BMW pulls ahead of Tesla in European electric car sales 

BMW is bucking the trend across other European automakers after robust sales of its i4 and iX1 vehicles. 

German automaker BMW pulled ahead of Tesla and led Europe’s electric-vehicle market for the first time last month, extending the German carmaker’s strong run of growth as other manufacturers struggle.

Sales of fully electric BMWs in the bloc jumped by more than a third to 14,869 units in July, according to data compiled by consultants Jato Dynamics. Tesla’s registrations declined 16% to 14,561 units.

While Tesla still holds a commanding lead in electric car sales on a year-to-date basis, it’s ceding market share in Europe to the likes of BMW and Volvo. European car buyers registered a total of 139,300 new electric cars last month, down about 6% from a year ago.

Demand for electric cars is cooling in Europe after countries including Germany and Sweden ceased or pared back subsidies, prompting many of the region's largest manufacturers to walk back their electric car ambitions. 

BMW managed to buck the trend thanks to robust demand for EVs including the i4 and iX1, which outsold similarly sized models from Mercedes and Audi. Tesla’s Model Y maintained its position as the best-selling electric model in Europe in the first half, though demand is waning for the four-year-old model, with sales falling 16% in July.

Bloomberg