Europe January 2025: Volkswagen up 16.6%, Tesla down -45.2%
VW sales bounce back up in January.
According to preliminary data by ACEA, new car sales in Europe (27 countries EU+UK+EFTA) drops -2.1% year-on-year in January to 995,271 units. Among the Top 5 markets, France (-6.2%), Italy (-5.8%), Germany (-2.8%) and the UK (-2.5%) struggle whereas Spain (+5.3%) shines. The best performing markets this month are Norway (+82.4%), Lithuania (+33%), Iceland (+30%), Denmark (+22.6%), Austria (+16.5%), Sweden (+14.4%), Hungary (+13.4%) and Latvia (+11.7%). Worst offenders include Estonia (-66.3%), Bulgaria (-30.1%), Slovakia (-16.8%), Greece (-16.4%), Belgium (-13%) and Finland (-12.9%). BEV sales shoot up 37.3% to 166,065 and 16.7% share vs. 11.9% in January 2024 which was a particularly low base with the end of German subsidies. HEVs hold 34.9% share (+16.9%), petrol 29.2% (-20.5%), diesel 8.8% (-26.5%) and PHEV 7.6% (-6.4%).
Looking at the OEM ranking, the VW Group (+5.3%) and Renault Group (+5.4%) both defy the negative market with solid gains but Stellantis (-16%) is in freefall. Hyundai-Kia (-3.7%), the Toyota Group (-4.4%) and the BMW Group (-2.9%) all lose a little market share year-on-year. Brand-wise, Volkswagen (+16.6%) is in splendid form, scoring the only gain in the Top 7, and a sizeable one at that. Toyota (-7.6%) suffers but stays in 2nd place ahead of BMW (-1.8%), Skoda (-3.4%) and Peugeot (-3.4%). Renault (+18.1%) benefits from a dismal year-ago result but falls five spots on December to #8, below its sister brand Dacia (-5.2%) at #7. Cupra (+56.7%) comfortably outsells Seat (-14.5%) with MG (+36.8%) and Mercedes (+3%) also in positive. Tesla (-45.2%) crashes to less than 10,000 sales.
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Full January 2025 Top 10 groups and Top 30 brands below.
Europe January 2025 – groups (Source ACEA):
| Pos | Group | Jan-25 | /24 | Dec | FY24 |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 268,409 | + 5.3% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Stellantis | 154,079 | – 16.0% | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Renault Group | 97,910 | + 5.4% | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 83,297 | – 3.7% | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Toyota Group | 80,270 | – 4.4% | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | BMW Group | 70,192 | – 2.9% | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Mercedes | 42,532 | – 2.4% | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Ford Motor | 31,516 | – 12.2% | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | Nissan-Mitsubishi | 28,558 | – 11.1% | n/a | n/a |
| 10 | Volvo | 25,172 | – 2.9% | 9 | 9 |
Europe January 2025 – brands (Source ACEA):
| Pos | Brand | Jan-25 | /24 | Dec | FY24 |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 112,844 | + 16.6% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Toyota | 72,804 | – 7.6% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | BMW | 59,765 | – 1.8% | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Skoda | 59,465 | – 3.4% | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Peugeot | 55,445 | – 3.4% | 9 | 8 |
| 6 | Audi | 49,220 | – 7.8% | 8 | 7 |
| 7 | Dacia | 48,998 | – 5.2% | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | Renault | 48,443 | + 18.1% | 3 | 5 |
| 9 | Mercedes | 42,472 | + 3.0% | 5 | 6 |
| 10 | Kia | 41,762 | – 6.6% | 12 | 11 |
| 11 | Hyundai | 41,535 | – 0.6% | 11 | 10 |
| 12 | Ford | 31,516 | – 12.2% | 14 | 12 |
| 13 | Opel/Vauxhall | 28,449 | – 27.7% | 17 | 13 |
| 14 | Citroën | 27,170 | – 16.8% | 19 | 15 |
| 15 | Volvo | 25,172 | – 2.9% | 13 | 14 |
| 16 | Nissan | 25,108 | – 7.7% | 18 | 17 |
| 17 | Fiat | 23,608 | – 20.4% | 24 | 18 |
| 18 | MG | 22,994 | + 36.8% | 16 | 20 |
| 19 | Cupra | 20,855 | + 56.7% | 20 | 21 |
| 20 | Seat | 17,161 | – 14.5% | 15 | 19 |
| 21 | Suzuki | 14,469 | – 8.5% | 23 | 22 |
| 22 | Mazda | 11,064 | – 12.2% | 22 | 23 |
| 23 | Jeep | 10,984 | – 9.6% | 27 | 25 |
| 24 | Mini | 10,427 | – 9.1% | 21 | 24 |
| 25 | Land Rover | 10,220 | – 1.3% | 26 | 26 |
| 26 | Tesla | 9,945 | – 45.2% | 10 | 16 |
| 27 | Porsche | 8,120 | – 10.2% | 25 | 27 |
| 28 | Lexus | 7,466 | + 43.7% | 28 | 28 |
| 29 | Honda | 4,994 | – 16.3% | 30 | 29 |
| 30 | Alfa Romeo | 4,792 | + 21.3% | 31 | 31 |
Source: ACEA
