Auto sales in Europe fell significantly in January, with slower sales from Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia and the Renault Group’s budget brand Dacia shrinking the market.
Down 3.6% compared to January 2025, Europe’s auto sales slowdown came right at the time when China’s nascent brands were booming, with BYD, Omoda and Jaecoo all recording rises - off immature bases - of more than 100%.
And while BEV (battery-electric vehicles) sales rose by only 14%, the one-time BEV darling, Tesla, plummeted another 17% in the first month of the year, according to research company Dataforce. The Musk-lead brand saw its sales fall 27% across 2025, to 236,000 units, which allowed Volkswagen to overtake it as the top selling BEV maker.
With fewer off-street charging opportunities than the US, Europe’s BEV charge is stalling, or at least not growing at a rate that justifies the development spending needed to meet its 2035 zero-emission target.
Instead, it is plug-in hybrids (PHEV) that are booming in sales, rising 32% in January as automakers take advantage of the chance to average their emissions across their model powertrains.
HEV sales almost matched diesel sales in Europe in January, with diesel volumes falling 18% and gasoline models down 12%.
Often cited as a buffer between Europe’s legacy brands and Chinese budget models, Dacia sold 697,408 vehicles in 2025 and shifted 289,295 of its Sandero model, making it the biggest selling passenger car in Europe - a title it also held in 2024.
But Dacia sales fell 35% last month, dropping more than 16,000 sales over its 2025 registrations in year-to-date figures, while the Sandero lost 9000 sales.
On the upside, the more profitable Renault brand of the Renault Group rose more than 5% in January.
Darlings of the auto awards over the last few years, Hyundai (off 20%) and Kia (19%) struggled in January, and European giant Volkswagen also dropped by a double-digit percentage.
Volkswagen’s Skoda brand climbed 9.7% in January, but that pales into insignificance alongside the 408% rise of Stellantis’s Leapmotor, which sold more than 4000 cars.
It was a good sales month for Stellantis, with Fiat, Opel and Citroen all posting solid sales growth.
Porsche continues to struggle after the market failure of its electric Macan SUV, and it declined 12%, but Volvo fell by even more.
Source: forbes