VW has overtaken Tesla as Europe's top EV seller
www.businessinsider.com
Volkswagen EV registrations rose more than 150% year-over-year while Tesla saw the biggest decline among the top 30 brands.

Summary

  • Volkswagen beat Tesla in European EV sales across the first three months of 2025, data shows.
  • Registrations for VW EVs are up more than 150%, while Tesla lost huge ground.
  • However, the Model Y and Model 3 remain Europe’s top two most-registered EVs.
    • 𝚝𝚛𝚔@aussie.zoneEnglish
      8·
      17 hours ago

      Can’t speak for other countries, but in Australia BYD is smashing it.

      They represent incredible value for money and it’s not like we’ve got a local industry to protect - our conservative government made sure of that.

      We’re already the world’s dumping ground for shit vehicles that don’t meet emissions standards, so having a non-Elon Musk EV alternative is something people are grabbing with both hands. We bought a BYD Seal Performance for $70k AUD a little over a year ago. For that money you get an incredibly comfortable sedan that does 500k on a charge, costs about $1 per 100km to run, and does 0-100 in 3.8 seconds.

      EU vehicles are crazy overpriced by comparison, and because they try and position Mercedes / BMW / VW as luxury brands here the servicing and repair costs are through the roof. Part availability also sucks, with everything being a 6+ week lead time. We’ve owned European vehicles on several occasions and never again.

        • 𝚝𝚛𝚔@aussie.zoneEnglish
          3·
          11 hours ago

          Like what?

          Korea has a few (Hyundai, Kia / same,same) but the only Japanese options are [P]HEV or the Toyota BZ4X which is… ugly… if it didn’t have a Toyota badge I don’t think they’d sell any of them. Few old Leafs still hanging in there, but if you want to go more than 100k at a time that’s them ruled out.

          • Kecessa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            1·
            7 hours ago

            300km+ range for the Leaf these days and they’ve got the Ariya that has over 400km of range, but I just checked and they don’t seem to offer either in Australia…

            Guess you’re truly stuck with Chinese and Korean models then…

    • frankgrimeszz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      121·
      2 days ago

      I only brought them up because I saw a news report that their dealerships are popping up and their starting price is much lower than Tesla. Like €17000.

    • Track_Shovel@slrpnk.netEnglish
      12·
      2 days ago

      I’ve seen some videos on them. They look pretty nice but I worry about how they hold up and the build quality, as I would any relatively unestablished brand.

      • Wanderer@lemm.eeEnglish
        21·
        6 hours ago

        Fuck the Tankies fuck communism entirely, I just got back from Cambodia, got an economics degree and like capitalism, China’s a bunch of dickheads.

        BYD is going to change the world.

        It’s the classic incumbents move slow into new tech. Added with government investment, low labour costs, access to raw materials/adjacent industries, hungry growth focused companies, semi crazy workforce.

        I haven’t drove a BYD or even a electric car for that matter but reading the stats things are going to move fast and the rate they move is going to increase. I can see all the west companies largely losing their overseas market, other than luxury, inside cities. The world’s moved on and people don’t realise.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        7 hours ago

        Don’t want to protect elon musk’s swastikar LLC with tariffs? Must be a tankie! Want to buy a cheap electric vehicle? tankie!

    • weew@lemmy.caEnglish
      84·
      2 days ago

      Because they present amazing value (at Chinese prices) and really advanced battery technology.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        256·
        2 days ago

        If you don’t consider the impact that sending yet more manufacturing jobs to China will have in the long run and the fact that they have great value because what China is doing is called dumping and the goal is for them to have a monopoly so they can eventually increase prices without having any competitors.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
              11·
              6 hours ago

              So, since china is evil and wrong for making an affordable car when elon doesn’t want them to, who is allowed to make an affordable electric car?

              • Kecessa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                1·
                5 hours ago

                Eh… What are you going on about? Dumping is wrong no matter who does it and there’s more than Tesla and Chinese offerings on the market.

                • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  21·
                  5 hours ago

                  Dumping is wrong no matter who does it

                  Right after biden put in his trumpian tariffs against an automaker to protect musk.

                  • Kecessa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                    1·
                    5 hours ago

                    If a country is dumping in your market and threatening your own industry you impose tariffs to compensate or you risk losing jobs and you’ll have a much bigger issue to deal with.

                    I hope you’re not the kind of person that complains about the middle class disappearing because right now you’re defending what made it disappear.

                    Also, welcome to the world, which isn’t just the US, this thread is about the European market where Biden didn’t impose tariffs.

        • suigenerix@lemmy.worldEnglish
          14·
          2 days ago

          Yes, China dumps EVs on other markets.

          But here are some extra insights to consider about the issue:

          • To curb dumping, many countries already have, or are introducing, high tariffs against Chinese EVs. Biden had a 100% tariff on EVs, Canada is 100%, India is 70-100%, the EU is up to 45%, Brazil is ramping up to 35%, etc.
          • Around 90% of all EVs China produces are sold in China. So even if EV dumping ends, it’ll have only a minor effect on production
          • Dumping is caused by over supply of Chinese EVs at the moment. Some countries, like the US under Trump policies, are deliberately attempting to drive down EV demand, further adding to the issue. And as with all markets, over supply can’t be sustained indefinitely, so it’s predicted that multiple Chinese EV manufacturers will go under or merge. This is normal in evolving markets
          • China is innovating much faster with EV tech, especially with battery technology. Meanwhile the US under Trump is removing incentives for EV production and ownership, and causing significant market uncertainty. This will have a far greater effect on Chinese dominance of the technology than dumping
          • China is in the majority of countries in offering government subsidies and tax breaks for emerging products, especially on things like R&D and infrastructure
          • The US and other countries also dump products on a significantly larger scale. For example, the US government subsidizes corn which is sold to world markets under production cost. Exports of corn from the US in 2024 were ~$14 billion, while Chinese EV exports were under $5 billion

          None of this is intended to condone China or any country dumping products, but as a warning about having overly simplified reactions to an issue without understanding the bigger picture.

    • Blablablabum@lemmy.zipEnglish
      54·
      2 days ago

      Well, they do make pretty nice cars… I have a dolphin, and it is great value for the money :)