Europe EV wars: Volkswagen beat Tesla to top spot again as Chinese competition rose in February

The numbers are in for the European EV market for February 2025. According to data from JATO Dynamics, Volkswagen retained top dog status across 28 countries as total market volume jumped 26 percent year-on-year from 130,739 to 164,148.

Perhaps the biggest news is Tesla losing market share, down to 9.6 percent. The Model Y only registered 8,800 units, falling by a significant 56 percent. The Model 3 didn't fare any worse, accumulating 14 percent fewer registrations at 6,800. Altogether, the company conceded 44 percent of its BEV market share to place second.

Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, has become more prominent in American politics. However, JATO Dynamics analyst Felipe Munoz believes the drop has more to do with introducing the new Model Y than with Musk's political persuasion, pointing to the difference in volume declines between the Model Y and Model 3.

Volkswagen topped the chart again with 19,565 registrations, a 180 percent increase compared to the same period last year. BMW also performed 20 percent better with 13,475 units. Other gainers included Audi at 70 percent, Renault at 96 percent, and Kia at 56 percent, in that order.

Meanwhile, Tesla's road to recovery gets tougher as Chinese brands stole market share. As a group, the latter outsold Tesla by more than 4,000 units. Even though both parties sold fewer units compared to January, it was a dramatic turn of events because Tesla outperformed the Chinese collective by nearly 5,000 registrations in the first month of the year.