Overview

• New-car registrations in the EU rose 7.4% in July to 914,680, but year-to-date sales remain 0.7% lower than 2024 and still roughly 20% below 2019 levels, according to ACEA and market analysts.
• Powertrains shifted further toward electrification: hybrids held a 34.7% share, battery-electrics were at 15.6% both in July and year-to-date, and plug-in hybrids reached 8.6%.
• Tesla’s EU registrations fell about 42% in July to roughly 6,600, trailing BYD at 9,698 and SAIC; a sizable portion of BYD’s volume has been attributed to manufacturer or dealer self-registrations, per ZDK estimates.
• Volkswagen Group extended its overall lead with a 3.8% rise in registrations in the first seven months, while Stellantis declined about 9.9% over the same period.
• Industry bodies ACEA and CLEPA urged the EU to relax 2030/2035 targets; Chinese BEVs face tariffs of up to about 35% while PHEVs are exempt, a dynamic leveraged by a company offering direct China-to-Europe deliveries and set to be tempered by a stricter PHEV utility factor from 2026.