MG poised to outsell Tesla; sales surge at Lotus, Lexus, Polestar

CORRECTION: The previous PDF of the preliminary data had an error with the calculation of Volkswagen Group's figures.

MG was in position to outsell Tesla in Europe after more than doubling its sales in July.

MG led Tesla 15,991 to 15,139 based on preliminary figures from market researcher Dataforce.

MG's July sales were up 176 percent while Tesla's volume rose nearly 760 percent compared with last July, according to data representing 90 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.

The biggest contributor to MG's success was the new MG4, which accounted for nearly half of the 10,193 added sales for the Chinese brand during the month.

Tesla increased its sales by 13,377 vehicles, with the Model Y accounting for 62 percent of that increase.

Lots of winners

Last month, 28 brands increased their European sales in by more than the market, which was up 17 percent, while 50 brands ended the month of the year with volume gains.

At the same time, 16 brands lost volume for the month, according Dataforce.

Ten brands, led by Lotus, recorded quadruple- or triple-digit gains. Sales at Lotus jumped nearly 3,000 percent to 145 in July from just five during the same month last year.

Sales at Xpeng rose by 786 percent to 124 for the month.

Other top gainers included Polestar (+362 percent), Smart (+198 percent); BYD (+183 percent) and Nio (+130 percent).

MG, Xpeng, BYD and Nio are Chinese brands; Lotus and Polestar are subsidiaries of China's Zhejiang Geely, which also has a 50 percent stake in Smart.

Lexus boosted sales 114 percent on strong demand for the NX premium midsize SUV.

There were 27 brands with double-digit increases, including Subaru (+96 percent), Volkswagen Group subsidiary Cupra (45 percent), Stellantis brand Alfa Romeo (+39 percent) and Ford (+29 percent)

Volvo continued a run of strong sales, up 38 percent to 17,710. The Geely-owned brand was led by the strong gains for the XC60 midsize SUV and XC40 compact SUV.

Another Geely brand with a notable increase was subscription-focused Lynk & CO, which was up 22 percent for the month.

Other brands that recorded market-beating gains included Kia (+22 percent), BMW and Lamborghini (both +20 percent) and Mini (+19 percent).

Europe’s No. 1-selling brand, VW, which was up 13 percent, had the second-largest absolute sales gain after Tesla with an increase of 12,094 to 102,714 sales.

In addition to VW and Porsche, the 12 brands that recorded gains below the market average included Lancia (+8.1 percent), Mercedes-Benz (+5.4 percent), Maserati (+5.2 percent) and Land Rover (+4.1 percent).