Where are electric cars in Europe manufactured?

Some nations are historically renowned for their automobile manufacturing, but things could change with the electric car. China is slowly starting to take up more and more space as a car supplier, especially when we focus only on 100% electric models. What is it concretely?

Jato, a company specializing in automotive market data, has published on March 28 the figures corresponding to the first two months of the year 2024 on the European market. The opportunity to observe the progress of the different producing countries and to be surprised by a few percentages.

Germany concentrates a third of the production sold in Europe

With 33% of electric cars produced and marketed in Europe, Germany is the largest supplier to the European automobile market. It has a considerable lead compared to other countries. Spain in second place represents only 7% of electric cars produced.

The presence of the Tesla factory on the outskirts of Berlin is certainly no stranger to this significant share of electric vehicles produced in Germany. Tesla's Model Y remains the best-selling model in Europe with already 31,230 copies over the first two months of the year.

As the German brands (BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes) did not hesitate to repatriate the majority of the production of electric models to the national territory, the results are particularly telling. Despite the regular suspension of Volkswagen production in Germany in recent months, the number of vehicles produced in Germany has increased by 8%, according to Jato.

China is pushing hard, but not necessarily with Chinese brands

Electric cars made in China represent 1 in 5 sales in Europe at the start of 2024. This could worry and revive bets of an imminent invasion. However, we must put things into perspective: among the 20% of cars produced in Chinese factories, we must not forget that some are manufactured for brands with Western crests (European or American brands).

Among these, it is possible to point out several important references on the European market:

• Tesla Model 3: 14,300 copies,
• Dacia Spring: 6,155 units,
• Volvo EX30: already 5,980 copies,
• Smart #1 and #3: 2,489 for both models.

However, it is difficult to deny that Chinese brands are making progress in Europe, notably driven by the MG brand of the SAIC group. BYD would like to follow the same trajectory. These brands were relatively non-existent two years ago, the percentage concerning them will inevitably increase over the coming months. In any case, as long as Europe does not sanction them with high customs duties.

To give some elements of comparison:

• MG4: 8,805 copies,
• MG5: 1,029,
• BYD Atto3: 2,132,
• BYD Seal: 1,082.

Overall, the other models only represent a few dozen or hundreds of registrations in Europe in January and February. Even if all these cumulative models necessarily also influence the total figure.

France barely exceeds 5%

Seen from France, we could have hoped that French factories would produce a little more than the 5.1% of electric cars sold in Europe at the start of 2024. But even if Renault produces almost all of its electric cars in France, they do not weigh very much. heavy on a European scale, for the moment anyway. Renault hopes for European success for the Renault Scénic and the Renault 5.

The Stellantis group does have some electric vehicles produced in France: DS3, Opel Mokka-e, Peugeot e-308, Peugeot e-3008, and some utility vehicles. But these are not the models which have the largest volume of registrations across Europe at the start of 2024. Poland, Slovakia and Spain are a little better off at this level for the moment.

Other producing countries

To have a complete overview of the countries which produce the most electric cars sold in Europe, here is the data from Jato:

Comparing the figures for all engines combined: