Tesla’s European sales surged last month, showing that Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker keeps gaining ground in a region where Chinese rivals are also growing strongly.
New-car registrations for Tesla models, a reflection of sales, jumped 72.5% on year in September to 68,776 units across the European Union, the U.K., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, an industry body also known as ACEA. Growth picked up noticeably last month from a mere 4% increase in August, which tends to be a slow month for car registrations since many dealerships in Europe close for the summer holidays. ACEA reported a nearly 99% surge in BYD registrations last month to 49,953 vehicles. SAIC Motor’s registrations grew nearly 24% to 41,987 units, while Leapmotor logged a more than fourfold increase to 14,594 vehicles. In contrast, Germany’s Volkswagen recorded a 2.9% decline in sales to 308,474 units, while Renault’s fell 0.7% to 114,726 vehicles.
Higher registrations show that drivers in Europe are embracing Tesla despite stiff competition from Chinese rivals. Chinese carmakers have experienced a meteoric rise in the continent in recent years thanks to their relatively cheap lineups of electric and hybrid vehicles, denting sales for well-established domestic auto groups such as Volkswagen and Renault.
Tesla’s growth comes as the company seeks approval for its full self-driving technology in the EU. In April, the Netherlands became the first country in the bloc to greenlight the system that helps drivers change lanes and navigate around other vehicles and objects. Write to Mauro Orru at [email protected]
The market for battery-electric vehicles grew nearly 60% in Europe last month. Registrations of hybrid-electric cars gained 5.3%, while plug-in-hybrid models were up 24%. ACEA said monthly passenger-car registrations increased 10% in Europe as a whole and 9.3% in the EU, with sales up 9% in Germany, 12% in France and 9.8% in Italy.
FSD doesn’t make vehicles fully autonomous and is meant to be used only with a fully attentive driver, according to Tesla’s website.
Since then, some EU member states including Lithuania, Estonia and Denmark, have recognized the Dutch approval, allowing Tesla to roll out FSD in those countries while EU authorities review an application from the Netherlands Vehicle Authority to make FSD available across the bloc.
