David Jolley

Tesla's registrations grew by 76 percent in a German market where the share of battery-electric cars was 17.7 percent, narrowly behind the share of diesel vehicles.

UK sales of EVs rose 35 percent in November, the fourth consecutive month of growth.

Tesla was among the big winners, with its registrations up 93 percent. The EV maker's share of the market is 2.2 percent.

Hyundai's luxury brand appointed industry veteran Lawrence Hamilton as its new Europe boss.

Russia's top-selling brands all reported strong results last month, with sales at market leader Lada rising 43 percent and No. 2 Hyundai up 44 percent.

Tesla had the biggest monthly gain, followed by Smart and Suzuki. Among the losers were Honda, Ford, Mitsubishi and Volvo.

Ford is one of only a few automakers still offering pickups in Europe and its only model, the midsize Ford Ranger, is currently the best-selling pickup in the region.

The fifth-generation Sportage will be unveiled in July in Korea, with the European variant arriving in September.

Ford has confirmed that it will build a VW MEB-based electric car in Cologne but has not said what type of vehicle it will be.

VW released sketches of a possible design for the open top EV that brand CEO Ralf Brandstätter called "a very tempting idea."

Demand fell to 95,213 last month after a drop in December that ended a three-month bounce back from the fallout of coronavirus measures.

Sales plunged again last month in Europe's biggest market as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to subdue demand. 

The automaker has used the summer break to make changes to the factory ahead of the electric van’s launch in 2022.

Chinese EV maker Nio hopes to enter the European market next year, bringing with it not only its SUVs, but also its battery swapping technology.

Christian Vollmer, former production and logistics boss at Seat, will take the same role at the VW brand.