Brands From China In France : 2025 (Jan -Nov)

The chart to the right shows sales of brands that are based in China. Rk is where they rank compared to all brands, MS is market share and +/- shows increases over 12 months of 2024. 

There have been some impressive gains plus some new ones, n/a showing that. Saying that, compared to many other markets, the 3.1% overall penetration is low. 

MG is well established (since 2020) and BYD has wasted no time in moving up the rankings, 2024 is its first full year here. Leapmotor and Xpeng have done well in a short time as well. 

It will be interesting to see what develops from here. The EU have set tariffs based on what they have determined are unfair subsidies. These are not imposed as a blanket figure but vary according to the calculated amount of the subsidy. 

This will have impacted the numbers compared to the UK, where they haven't acted on this issue so far. I would like to do an article on Norway, which has like the UK, does not impose tariffs. I just don't get enough data to do that. 

For others in the series: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore. The UK.

Data source: AAADATA. 

Photo source: MG (EHS - top) and Xpeng (G6 -bottom) France. 

JLR's Gerry McGovern Leaves The Company

Anyone who reads articles here will know my affection for the Jaguar marque but also my disquiet about the direction it is being taken. Bold decisions were needed with Jaguar, but bold needs to be executed sensibly. I cannot think of one decision that would describe Jaguar's treatment in recent times as sensible. 

The design of the new range of Jaguar EVs looked appalling in my opinion. One could tell that designers of the quality of Ian McCallum were not part of the process. The new CEO has shown JLR design boss Gerry McGovern the door. There could be various reasons as to why his departure happened, but I won't speculate. 

The new designs and the premium/electric direction Jaguar is being taken cause me to fear for its future because I am not sure it will work. Can JLR afford to recalibrate Jaguar again, or are they committed to continuing their current trajectory? I would say the latter, unfortunately.

PS. For more on Jaguar, simply click on 'Brand - Jaguar' in the Labels column. 

Lotus Sales : 2025 (Q1-Q3)

Lotus Cars has always been a problem child. The issue hasn't been the product. Far from it. It's been about profitability or the lack of. Current owners are Geely (51%) and Etika Automotive (49%), a Chinese-Malaysian collaboration.

The current range consists of the Eletre and Emeya electric SUV/GT,  made in China. The petrol powered Emira and limited volume electric Evija sports cars, made in the UK. 

To the right we can see the last three years of sales, minus one quarter. Things took off in 2023 and continued through 2024. By 2025, orders had been met and a return to relative normality.

A hybrid version of the Eletre SUV is planned for 2026 and that should noticeably lift sales. A hybrid Emira and a smaller SUV are planned for 2027. 

Now looking at models, or more precisely. the two segments they reside in. Comparing Q1-Q3, the Car/SUV grouping is up from 53% to 72%. Both are down in volume and combined that is -40%. 

The sports car side of the business basically revolves around one model and therefore is going to boom with a new model and then fall away to something more reflective of true demand.

As for regions, China has emerged as the largest for Lotus sales, with 46% of the total. It's also the only region that increased. It would be safe to assume that the Car/SUV models would be the main cars sold there, while the sports cars are the more popular elsewhere. 

Data and photo source: Lotus Cars. 

Photos (from the top). Eletre, Emira, Evija and Emeya.