Chinese car brands gain influence as EV sales wane
A new report by Jato Dynamics has revealed that the European new car market grew by 0.9% to 12,909,741 units last year, driven by sales from Chinese car brands.
However, this was the fifth year of muted sales numbers, with annual totals about 2.9 million down on pre-pandemic figures.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics, said: “Overall, when you consider the range of challenges facing Europe’s automotive industry, the results for 2024 are not overly negative. However, you would expect any other industry to have shown significant signs of recovery by now, and there is very little evidence that the automotive industry will return to the pre-pandemic reality.”
The report also identified some key trends impacting the industry, including the growing influence of Chinese car brands and a slow down in electric vehicle sales.
Chinese car brands influence
It found that China was the sixth largest country of origin for new vehicles registered in Europe, with Chinese-made cars outselling those made in the UK, Turkey, Japan and South Korea between 2023 and 2024.
Munoz said:
“Last year, more of the cars registered in Europe came from China than Japan. China’s influence in Europe – both from Chinese OEMs and Chinese-made vehicles – is growing steadily. Their products are highly competitive, but it remains to be seen just how much the introduction of tariffs will impact its growth.”
Meanwhile, the gradual tapering off of demand for EVs that has been evident in recent years resulted in the first year of declining sales in 2024. From 2020, annual EV sales have risen 107%, 63%, 29% and 28% respectively. However, 1,985,996 EV registrations last year represented a year-on-year fall of 1.2%.
Market share also fell marginally, from 15.7% to 15.4%.
By contrast, hybrid sales rose 21% to 1,529,806, dominated by Toyota (738,500 units).
