Tesla UK Registrations Fall 9 Percent Year Over Year Amid Rising Chinese EV Competition

Tesla’s car registrations in the United Kingdom fell 9 percent year over year in December, industry data showed on Jan. 6, underscoring the intense competition from Chinese rivals faced by the U.S. electric vehicle maker in its largest European market.

Overall new-car registrations in the UK fell sharply during the month, even as electric vehicles (EVs) captured a record share of the market, according to figures published by New AutoMotive.

Tesla remained the UK’s largest battery electric vehicle brand in December, even as its registrations slumped. The figures come as competition in the global EV market intensifies, particularly from Chinese manufacturers expanding rapidly in Europe and other overseas markets.

Seven of the top 10 manufacturers recorded growth, led by Chinese rival BYD and U.S.-based Ford, both of which posted year-over-year registration increases of more than 200 percent, according to New AutoMotive. Volkswagen and Skoda also recorded strong gains, it said.

Ford’s transition stood out, with BEVs rising from 8 percent to 24 percent of its total sales. Cupra completed a rapid shift to become BEV-led, with electric models accounting for 36 percent of its registrations in 2025, the data showed.

Tesla’s challenges were not confined to the UK, as registrations in the Netherlands fell 27 percent, to 4,300 vehicles in December, data from car industry RAI Vereniging showed Jan. 5.

Last week, Tesla reported a drop in its 2025 sales, saying it delivered 418,227 vehicles in the final three months of 2025—down 15.6 percent from the year-ago period.

For Tesla, which sells directly to consumers, deliveries are seen as a close proxy for sales. Meanwhile, Shanghai-based BYD said on Jan. 1 that it sold 2.3 million electric cars globally in 2025, up 28 percent from 2024, marking its first year surpassing Tesla in annual sales.

Market Movement

Separate figures published on Jan. 6 by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed the UK new-car market grew for a third consecutive year in 2025, reaching 2.02 million registrations for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Total registrations rose 3.5 percent year over year, with growth across private, fleet, and business buyers.

December registrations rose 3.9 percent, to 146,249 units, driven by a surge in private purchases that climbed 16 percent. Battery electric vehicles took a 32.2 percent share of the December market, the only month in 2025 in which the zero-emission vehicle mandate target of 28 percent was exceeded, the SMMT said.

Across the full year, nearly 473,348 battery electric vehicles were registered, lifting EV market share to 23.4 percent. While that made the UK likely the second-largest EV market in Europe by volume, the SMMT said the figure still fell short of the mandate trajectory, which requires EVs to account for nearly one in three new registrations next year.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of SMMT, said in a statement that while the market’s recovery was encouraging, the cost of driving EV adoption was becoming unsustainable for manufacturers.

“The new car market finally reaching two million registrations for the first time this decade is a reasonably solid result amid tough economic and geopolitical headwinds,” Hawes said.

He said that government policies were sending mixed signals to consumers. “Government has stepped in with the Electric Car Grant, but a new EV tax, additional charges for EV drivers in London and costly public charging send mixed signals,” Hawes said.

Manufacturers subsidized EV sales by more than 5 billion pounds ($6.75 billion) in 2025, equivalent to about 11,000 pounds ($14,860) per vehicle, the SMMT said, arguing that such support could not continue indefinitely without policy changes.