2025 (May): New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe increased 2.5% with VW the leading car brand and the Renault Clio the top-selling car model.
The European new car market expanded by 2.5% in May 2025 for a moderate year-to-date growth of 0.7%. Electric and plug-in hybrid car sales increased at a much faster rate. Chinese car manufacturers more than doubled new car sales in Europe for a combined market share of nearly 6%. Volkswagen was the best-selling car brand and the Renault Clio the top-selling car model in Europe in May 2025. Volkswagen was also the top-selling electric car brand, while the Tesla Model Y was again the best-selling electric car model in Europe.
Latest European Car Market Statistics: 2025: January, February, March, (Q1), April, May; 2024 (Full Year): Market, By Country, Electric, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Models; 2025-2007.
European New Car Market in May 2025
New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe increased by 2.5% in May 2025, according to JATO Dynamics data for 28 European markets, including the EU, UK, and EFTA countries. Car sales increased to 1,107,517 vehicles from 1,080,484 in May 2024.
Year-to-date 2025, the European new car market expanded by a more modest 0.7% to 5,535,831 vehicles.
The growth in car sales in Europe in May 2025 was especially strong for battery-electric cars, which increased sales by 28% for a 17.5% market share, while plug-in hybrid car sales increased even stronger by 31% for a nearly 10% market share.
Top Selling Car Brands in Europe in May 2025
The ten largest car manufacturing groups in Europe in May 2025, according to JATO were:
The Volkswagen Group, Renault Group, and BMW Group all performed well in Europe in May 2025 with car sales volume increases of 3.3%, 4.6% and 6.3%, respectively. However, Chinese car brands were the main driver of growth in May.
According to JATO Dynamics’ data, 65,808 units were registered by Chinese automakers in 2025, accounting for 5.9% of total sales across the region. This means that Chinese car brands more than doubled their market share from the 2.9% recorded in May 2024.
These numbers exclude traditional Western brands owned by Chinese manufacturers, such as Geely / Volvo, or cars produced in China for foreign brands. These brands saw weaker sales with total car sales less than half those of Chinese car brands in Europe
“Despite the EU’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, its car brands continue to post strong growth across Europe,” Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics, commented. “Their momentum is partly due to their decision to push alternative powertrains, such as plug-in hybrids and full hybrids, to the region.”
MG registered 29,400 vehicles in May — a 30% increase year-on-year — surpassing Fiat in year-to-date 2025 new car registrations with 133,400 units compared to Fiat’s 125,300. Meanwhile, BYD saw registrations surge by 397% year-on-year. Despite this sharp growth, it fell just 40 units short of Tesla in May 2025, after having outsold the American brand for the first time in April 2025.
Other strong performers in May 2025 include Skoda, which occupied second place in the brand rankings, while Dacia saw a significant rise in volumes. Cupra overtook Seat in the year-to-date brand rankings, recording an uplift in registrations of 30%.
Jaecoo outsold Honda with 7,449 registrations while Omoda recorded 4,213 units, outselling Mitsubishi. Leapmotor registered 1,723 units but was unable to outperform its sister brands from Stellantis like DS. The Chinese carmaker outsold Lancia, which posted a year-on-year decrease of 80%. The latter was also outperformed by Ebro, the revived Spanish brand that produces vehicles in partnership with China’s Chery.
Maserati recorded a decline of 40%, while registrations by Lotus and Abarth dipped by 48% and 78%, respectively. INEOS outsold Jaguar, which registered just 86 units.
Best-Selling Car Models in Europe in May 2025
The ten top-selling car models in Europe in May 2025 were:
The Renault Clio was the top-selling car model in Europe in May 2025 with a volume increase of nearly 12%. Despite a 10% decline in sales, the Dacia Sandero secured second place in the ranking by model and continues to lead the year-to-date rankings by 105,212 sales compared to 95,014 for the Clio.
The Volkswagen Tiguan and Dacia Duster also performed well in May 2025, while the Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen T-Roc posted decreases of 18% and 10%, respectively.
Other strong performers in May included the MG ZS — the 15th most-registered vehicle — along with the BMW X1, Seat/Cupra Leon, Peugeot 3008, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Avenger, MG 3, and Mini Cooper. Among newer market entrants, the Skoda Elroq led the way with 9,200 units registered in May and 24,100 year-to-date. It was followed by the Jaecoo 7 with 7,449 units, the BYD Seal U with 7,100, and the Renault Symbioz with 6,743. The Cupra Terramar recorded 5,445 units, the Audi Q6 registered 5,007, and the Volkswagen Tayron posted 4,793.
Best-Selling Electric Car Brands in Europe in May 2025
The 25 best-selling electric car brands in Europe in May 2025 were:
Volkswagen was by far the largest all-electric car brand in Europe in May 2025 with sales up by 50% Skoda moved into second place with sales up 182% followed by BMW and Audi. Tesla had another dismal performance in Europe with car sales down 29% but Volvo did even worse with electric car sales down 31%.
Best-Selling Electric Car Models in Europe in May 2025
The 25 best-selling electric car models in Europe in May 2025 were:
The Tesla Model Y was again Europe’s favorite electric car model despite sales slipping by 7% in May 2025. The new Skoda Elroq was the second most popular battery-electric car model in Europe. It was followed by three Volkwagens: the ID7, ID4, and ID3.
Tesla Model 3 sales were down 59% while Volvo EX30 sales also halved in Europe in May 2025.
Europe Car Sales Statistics
→ Latest European Car Sales Statistics
- 2025 Market Analysis: January, February, March, April, May
- 2025 (Q1): Car Sales by Country, Best-Selling Brands, Electric Cars
- 2025 (Outlook) Europe: Car and Electric Car Sales Forecasts
- 2024 (Full Year): Market Analysis, Car Sales by Country, Electric Sales by Country, Best-Selling Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Models
- 2024: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
- Full-Year 2023: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Car Models
