The Renault Clio is the best-selling vehicle in Europe for the 2nd month running.

According to data by JATO Dynamics, the European new car market (28 countries) edges up 2.5% year-on-year in May to 1,107,517 units. This way, the year-to-date tally is up just 0.1% to 5,575,198. Local association ACEA has the market at 1,113,194 for the month (+1.9%) and 5,572,458 YTD (+0.1%). Among the main 5 markets, Spain by far performs best at +18.6% with all remaining four below the market growth rate: the UK is up 1.6%, Germany up 1.2% and Italy down -0.1%, but France is in a world of hurt at -12.3%. As for other markets, Iceland is up 49.6%, Lithuania up 43.8%, Norway up 39.1%, Latvia up 27.8% and Denmark up 23.3%. At the other end of the scale, Romania sinks -32.7%, Estonia is off -25.9%, Finland down -12% and Belgium down -11.7%.

BEV sales surge 28% to 194,300 and 17.5% share vs. 14% a year ago in May 2024, and PHEVs are up 31% to 108.878 and 9.8% share vs. 6.8% last year. SUVs continue to increase their footprint on the European market with sales up a whopping 10% year-on-year to 618,026 and 56% vs. 53% in May 2024. Chinese brands show exceptional growth at +111% to 65,808 and 5.9% share vs. just 2.9% a year ago. Chinese manufacturers have pivoted to PHEVs to escape tariffs on China-imported BEVs.

In the OEM ranking, there is no change in the Top 10. The VW Group (+3%) evolves like the market to keep the lead ahead of Stellantis, in difficulty at -3%. The Renault Group is solid at +5%, distancing a stable Hyundai-Kia (-1%), with Ford Motor (+9%) and the BMW Group (+6%) both outpacing the market. Mercedes (+2%) is a little more shy, while the Geely Group (-11%) and Toyota Group (-4%) struggle. Closing the Top 10, SAIC surges 30% year-on-year.

Looking at the models ranking, the Renault Clio (+11.6%) brilliantly repeats at #1 with a 1,215-unit advantage over the #2. This performance is mainly due to a stunning score in France, which accounts for 46% of its Europe-wide volume for the month. The Clio ascends to #2 YTD as a result. Still leader year-to-date, the Dacia Sandero is up 3.2% to repeat at #2, distancing last year’s leader the VW T-Roc (-9.6%) rallying back up 6 spots on April to #3. The Peugeot 208 (-6.4%) is down one rank to #4 but ranks #3 YTD vs. #6 over the Full Year 2024. The VW Golf (-20.1%) sinks YoY at #5, with Germany representing 47% of its total volume. The Peugeot 2008 (-1.7%) is up five spots on April to #6, the nameplate’s highest ranking in one year, since also placing #6 in May 2024. The VW Tiguan soars 16% thanks to the new generation, while the Dacia Duster (+10.2%) is equally solid at #8. The Toyota Yaris Cross (+1.6%) and Citroen C3 (-5.1%) complete the Top 10.

Looking at the brands BEV ranking, Volkswagen (+50%) stays in first place, Skoda (+182%) overtakes BMW (+2%) to #2 with Audi (+70%) in tow. Tesla (-29%) endures another horrendous fall and ranks #5. Kia (+60%), Hyundai (+56%) and Renault (+31%) also perform well while outside the Top 10, Citroen (+411%), Ford (+280%) and BYD (+158%) make themselves noticed. The Tesla Model Y (-7%) reclaims the lead of the BEV models charts, toppling the Skoda Elroq. VW trusts the rest of the Top 5 with the ID.7 (+373%) at #3 followed by the ID.4 (+12%) and ID.3 (+14%).

Complete brands and models rankings and commentary will be uploaded to this article shortly.

Previous month: Europe April 2025: BYD above Tesla for the first time, Renault Clio #1

One year ago: Europe May 2024: Toyota (+8.3%), Skoda (+7.4%) solid, VW T-Roc and Golf in the lead

Full May 2025 Top 10 OEMs, Top 10 models, Top 25 BEV brands and Top 25 BEV models below.

Europe May 2025 – OEMs:

PosGroupMay-25/24Apr1Volkswagen Group303,268+ 3%12Stellantis168,867– 3%23Renault Group109,712+ 5%34Hyundai-Kia88,401– 1%45BMW Group78,231+ 6%56Toyota Group76,537– 4%67Mercedes58,442+ 2%78Ford Motor41,110+ 9%89Geely Group32,992– 11%910SAIC Motor29,387+ 30%10

Europe May 2025 – models:

PosModelMay-25/24Apr2025/24PosFY241Renault Clio21,163+ 11.6%195,014+ 4.3%222Dacia Sandero19,948+ 3.2%2105,212– 10.0%113VW T-Roc18,420– 9.6%984,421– 5.3%554Peugeot 20816,485+ 6.4%391,813+ 0.2%365VW Golf15,987– 20.1%885,598– 19.2%436Peugeot 200815,712– 1.7%1178,250+ 2.4%9147VW Tiguan15,313+ 16.0%479,841+ 34.0%7128Dacia Duster15,215+ 10.2%779,076+ 13.6%8109Toyota Yaris Cross15,178+ 1.6%677,332– 4.7%10710Citroen C314,510– 5.1%582,063– 3.2%615

Europe May 2025 – brands (BEV only):

PosBEV BrandMay-25/24Apr1Volkswagen23,309+ 50%12Skoda14,975+ 182%33BMW 14,859+ 2%24Audi13,835+ 70%45Tesla13,600– 29%116Renault 9,150+ 31%57Kia8,771+ 60%68Volvo8,751– 31%89Hyundai8,381+ 56%910Mercedes8,016– 6%711Ford 7,287+ 280%1312BYD7,111+ 158%1013Peugeot6,338– 18%1214Citroen6,305+ 411%1515Cupra5,815+ 53%1416Opel/Vauxhall4,830+ 16%1617MG4,114– 40%1818Mini3,713+ 109%1719Polestar3,281+ 49%2020Toyota3,058+ 67%1921Porsche2,730+ 204%2122Fiat2,104– 35%2223Dacia2,040+ 132%2324Xpeng1,583+ 350%2425Leapmotor1,316new25

Europe May 2025 – models (BEV only):

PosBEV ModelMay-25/24Apr1Tesla Model Y10,357– 7%92Skoda Elroq9,222new13VW ID.76,732+ 373%34VW ID.46,623+ 12%45VW ID.36,394+ 14%26Kia EV35,445new57BMW iX15,042+ 10%78Audi Q6 e-tron5,007new119Skoda Enyaq4,866+ 5%810Renault 54,563new611Volvo EX303,926– 52%1212Citroen C33,743new1013Cupra Born3,417– 10%1314Audi A6 e-tron3,372new1715Audi Q4 e-tron3,226– 26%1616Ford Explorer EV3,223new1517Tesla Model 33,190– 59%2418BMW i43,179– 13%1419Hyundai Inster3,148new2520Renault Scenic2,819+ 67%1921Hyundai Kona2,778– 6%2322Toyota bZ4X2,745+ 80%2223Mercedes EQA2,737– 22%1824Mercedes EQB2,695+ 5%2125Volvo EX402,688-18.0%n/a

Source: JATO Dynamics