Tesla (and ironically FCA) lead massive EV shift in Europe in radical new market conditions

Tesla, and ironically FCA, which has few to no electric vehicles, through its pooling deal with the California-based automaker, is leading a massive EV shift in Europe in radical new market conditions.

The coronavirus pandemic and the new emission rules in Europe are creating a perfect storm that is drastically changing the automotive market on the old continent.

Europe’s new regulations are pushing automakers to increase electric vehicle sales in their overall mix, but on top of it, the pandemic is affecting sales badly.

We already see the impact, which is perfectly illustrated by the Tesla and FCA deal.

Last year, it was reported that Tesla and FCA would pool their sales in Europe in order for the latter to comply with the new regulations and avoid billions in fines.

In return, FCA is reportedly going to pay Tesla up to $2 billion.

Q1 2020 is the first quarter where the sales are pooled and they are leading EV sale shares with 39% of their overall sales:

In a report, the International Council on Clean Transportation wrote about the news:

“Year-to-date, the 2020 market share of electric vehicles was 7% ,more than twice as high as during the same time period in 2019. FCA-Tesla was the manufacturer pool with the highest share of electric vehicles (39%). This is the result of a strong uptake of Tesla battery-electric vehicle sales, with a tenfold increase in deliveries in markets such as the UK, while at the same time sales of the Fiat brand combustion engine vehicles were cut in half compared to the previous month.”

The new market conditions are pushing the share of EV sales to a record 10% of the overall market in Europe.

The International Council on Clean Transportation is also counting plug-in hybrid sales, which is helping some automakers, like Volvo, rank higher on the list.

Here’s the full report:

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Electrek’s Take

Obviously, these are incredibly special market conditions leading to these results, but we could see EVs maintain this market share going forward and improve from there.

I think other automakers are going to have to follow Tesla’s lead in Europe.

The deal with FCA is going to help Tesla finance the construction of Gigafactory Berlin, which in turn is going to accelerate Tesla’s deployment of electric vehicles in Europe.

I am confident it will lead to the EV market outpacing the regulations with over 20% of sales by 2023.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.