Tesla’s share of the critical European market for battery-powered electric vehicles crumbled in the first month of 2021, and China took the new place in Europe in the EV race, according to new research.
TESLA’s TSLA,
the trajectory in Europe is declining. There were 1,619 registrations of Tesla’s battery electric vehicles in 18 major European markets in January, accounting for 3.5% of all battery electric vehicles, according to a report based on public data by car analysts. Matthias Schmidt. In 2020, the American car manufacturer registered 1,977 vehicles in January – that is more than 5% market share.
The 18 markets include European Union countries, minus 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.
Schmidt called Tesla’s performance ‘consistently low’ in January and said the European delivery schedule would peak at the end of each quarter. However, the analyst noted that Tesla’s 12-month rolling volumes have now fallen behind on Hyundai 005380,
and Kia 000270,
which is now the third most popular EV group in Europe.
Tesla was comfortably at the top of the European EV cards in 2019. It sold more than 109,000 vehicles that year, accounting for 31% of the electric vehicle battery market. But the tide changed in 2020, with Tesla lagging behind both brands of Volkswagen Group VOW.
and the alliance between Renault RNO,
Nissan 7201,
and Mitsubishi 8058,
Last year, Tesla accounted for just 13% of the European market despite a smaller decline in the number of vehicles it sold – around 10% – from 109,000 in 2019 to almost 98,000 in 2020.
According to Schmidt, who publishes the European Electric Car Report, it was the introduction of emission targets and the fear of massive fines that accelerated the European carmaker’s fight against Tesla for dominance.
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Broadly speaking, China rushed past Europe in January to regain its crown as the world’s largest electric vehicle market. There were 179,000 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles registered in China in January, compared to 110,000 in Europe.
The boost in China comes after a notable year for Europe. There were 1.33 million registrations for electric vehicles in Europe in 2020, surpassing 1.25 million in China, amid a pedal-to-the-metal push to boost EU governments’ acceptance and increased increase consumer demand.
China houses a strong household sector for electric vehicles, including the manufacturers Nio NIO,
Xpeng XPEV,
and BYD 1211,
Schmidt’s report shows that Volkswagen Group, which manufactures VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche, remains the most popular battery-electric vehicle group in Europe, with more than 22% of the market share after registering 10 193 of its vehicles.
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This is now followed by Stellantis STLA,
a group formed earlier this year by the merger of PSA – which includes Peugeot and Citroën – and Fiat Chrysler. Stellantis sold 9,005 vehicles.
Behind Stellantis are Hyundai and Kia, which are increasingly popular in Europe, with 7,087 registrations. This puts the Korean group ahead of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, with 6,018 registrations, although Renault’s Zoe was the most popular battery-powered vehicle in Europe in January.
Then comes Mercedes owner Daimler DAI,
BMW BMW,
and Volvo VOLV.B,
all with registrations before Tesla in the first month of the year.
Germany remained the largest single market in Europe for electric vehicles. The 16,315 battery-powered electric vehicles registered in the country in January were more than the total number in addition to two largest markets, France and the United Kingdom, combined.