There was an interesting article reviewing car sales in last week’s Investors Chronicle (4-10 July under the headline Toyota: pragmatic or careless?).

Toyota was still the best-selling car brand in 2024, ahead of Volkswagen, Ford and Hyundai. Market share of petrol-powered cars in Europe was about 47% in 2024 and has not been declining rapidly despite government incentives to purchase electric vehicles.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) reached a record 19.6% of new car registrations in 2024, according to We Buy Any Car but these are mainly fleet sales with private owners still favouring ICE (petrol/diesel or hybrid) vehicles.

The public are not changing their views on which vehicles are best very quickly although the numbers are very different in different countries mainly because of different tax incentives in some.

Toyota have been winning market share because they have not been dogmatic about what type of vehicles they expect purchasers to buy. With a strong focus on hybrid offerings, compare that with Jaguar who have focussed on expensive electric vehicles and where sales have almost disappeared.

Betting on any one technology is surely a mistake – as Tesla and Jaguar have done. The Chinese makers such as BYD (backed by Warren Buffett) are emulating Toyota in approach.

Whichever type of vehicle best suits the buyers depends on home facilities such as off-road parking and the cost of fuel in the local market.

It may be cheaper to run a second-hand ICE vehicle than buy a new electric one.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/Drivers_London )

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