Turns out, Europeans love big ol’ SUVs as much as Americans do
Regulators hate them, saying all the popularity of massive, heavy SUVs runs counter to environmental targets. Paris even slapped some hefty fines on SUVs parking in the city. But European consumers are showing nothing but love for the SUV, in all shapes and sizes. In a new milestone, SUV sales took the market lead at 51%.
Top sellers last year were (no surprise) the Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen’s T-Roc, which accounted for more than half of all sales in Europe for the first time, reports Automotive News Europe.
Sales of SUVs grew 19% last year to 6.63 million, according to market research Dataforce. The Tesla Model Y officially took the crown as Europe’s best-selling car overall for 2023, making it the first electric vehicle ever to do so.
For the first time, SUVs overtook Europe’s traditional hatchback and wagon body styles. Long gone, too, are the days when the VW Golf ruled the roost for almost 15 years. For minicars, a segment that sold close to a million vehicles a decade ago, last year saw the sales of 698,858 minicars in Europe. For battery-electric mini-cars, Fiat’s 500e was the best seller – a car the brand is hoping to successfully launch this year in the US. Still, lots of brands have since abandoned minicars altogether, or have bumped up the size for a larger, bulkier “minicar.”
Small SUVs, however, are on the rise, seeing nearly 2.2 million units last year, and compact SUVs selling 1.9 million, according to Dataforce. But the biggest growth came from the premium segment.
EVs were a big driver of sales in the midsize segment, with 50% of the market, according to the data. Battery-electric SUVs accounted for 48% of all premium midsize SUV sales, with the Model Y leading the pack. For mass-market midsize SUVs, Volkswagen ID4 took the lead.
For small SUVs, however, electric vehicle sales weren’t as strong, with only 1.7% of compact SUVs sold in 2023 featuring a battery-driven powertrain, according to the data. For small cars, only 5.4% of sales were electric.
But SUVs took the lead even in the highest-priced performance segment, reports Automotive News Europe, with plug-in hybrid BMW XM taking first place with 3,142 sales, outselling the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga.
Electrek’s Take
Where is the Citroen Ami when you need it? This is going in the wrong direction, and surely Europe doesn’t need a vehicle like this one on its city streets – or even in villages where the urban planners designed the roads a few hundred years ago. To adjust for a trend of bigger and bigger cars, a lot of infrastructure will need to change – bigger parking spaces, constructing sidewalks where there are none, widening roads to adapt to two-way traffic on one narrow road, pushing bike lanes farther over to make room for vehicle bulk. Perhaps more cities will go in the direction of Paris, which voted to triple parking fees for SUVs, to help push back the presence of bigger vehicles in cities at least. Amsterdam, London, and Copenhagen could be next.
Still, there is hope yet for small EVs to come out ahead this year, with a slew of new affordable models coming out, including Renault’s electric Twingo and Citroën’s ë-C3, not to mention new models coming from BYD and SAIC’s MG Motors. Hyundai announced its new mini-SUV Casper (which does look pretty mini) would be arriving this year priced at €20,000. Several new models are targeting a starting price of €25,000 or less, including the Renault 5, Twingo, and the BEV Fiat Panda, so maybe that could help more value-minded drivers ditch ICE or lower-priced SUVs like the ubiquitous Dacia Duster and buy a smaller car.
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The Dodge Charger Daytona EV made headlines when it rolled out fake engine noises as a way to make the EV appeal to muscle car drivers. As it turns out, they weren’t the right sort of fake engine noises – and now Stellantis has to recall 8,000 of them for a fix.
According to the ChryCo fans at Mopar Insider, Stellantis is recalling ~8,390 examples of its 2024 to 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EVs because of an exterior amplifier that may be missing critical enabling the amp to emit exterior sounds – including the Federally mandated pedestrian warning sounds designed to keep pedestrians safe.
What’s more, the recall’s “suspect period” reportedly begins on 30APR2024, when the first 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona was produced, and ends 18MAR2025 … when the last Charger EV was produced.
RECALL CHRONOLOGY
- On April 17, 2025, the FCA US LLC (“FCA US”) Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“TSRC”) organization opened an investigation into certain 2024–2025 model year Dodge Charger vehicles that may not emit exterior sound.
- From April 17, 2025, through May 13, 2025, FCA US TSRC met with FCA US Engineering and the supplier to understand all potential failure modes associated with the issue. They also reviewed warranty data, field records, and customer assistance records to determine field occurrences.
- On May 14, 2025, the FCA US TSRC organization determined that a vehicle build issue existed on certain vehicles related to a lack of EV exterior sound, potentially resulting in noncompliance with FMVSS No. 141.
Without the software patch, the vehicles don’t comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 141, “Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles.” The rule requires noisemakers for EVs and hybrids when operating under 19 mph, the safest speeds for pedestrians.
Basically, if you have a Dodge Charger EV, expect to get a recall notice.
It just keeps getting funnier
If you’re not familiar with the Charger Daytona EV’s “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust,” it’s a system that employs a combination of digital sound synthesis and a physical tuning chamber (translation: a speaker) to produce a 126 decibel sound that approximately imitates a Hellcat Hemi V8 ICE. That’s loud enough to cause most people physical pain, according to Yale University – putting it somewhere between a loud rock concert and a passenger jet at takeoff.
While you could argue that such noises are part and parcel with powerful combustion, they’re completely irrelevant to an EV, and speak to a particular sort of infantile delusion of masculinity that I, frankly, have never been able to wrap my head around. Something akin to the, “Hey, look at me! I’m a big tough guy!” attention-whoring of a suburban Harley rider in a “Sons of Anarchy” novelty cut, without even enough courage to ride a motorcycle, you know?
You know – and I bet you can help me dial in the the comparison to perfection (and help me explain why the car just isn’t selling) in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
SOURCE: Mopar Insiders; featured image by Stellantis.
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Is it an electric van or a truck? The Kia PV5 might be in a class of its own. Kia’s electric van was recently spotted charging in public with an open bed, and it looks like a real truck.
Kia’s electric van morphs into a truck with an open bed
The PV5 is the first of a series of electric vans as part of Kia’s new Platform Beyond Vehicle business (PBV). Kia claims the PBVs are more than vans, they are “total mobility solutions,” equipped with Hyundai’s advanced software.
Based on the flexible new EV platform, E-GMP.S, Kia has several new variants in the pipeline, including camper vans, refrigerated trucks, luxury “Prime” models for passenger use, and an open bed model.
Kia launched the PV5 Passenger and Cargo in the UK earlier this year for business and personal use. We knew more were coming, but now we are getting a look at a new variant in public.
Although we got a brief glimpse of it earlier this month driving by in Korea, Kia’s electric van was spotted charging in public with an open bed.
The folks at HealerTV found the PV5 variant with an open bed parked in Korea, offering us a good look from all angles.
From the front, it resembles the Passenger and Cargo variants, featuring slim vertical LED headlights. However, from the side, it’s an entirely different vehicle. The truck sits low to the ground, similar to the one captured driving earlier this month.
When you look at it from the back, you can’t even tell it’s the PV5. It looks like any other cargo truck with an open bed.
The PV5 open bed measures 5,000 mm in length, 1,900 mm in width, and 2,000 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm. Although Kia has yet to say how big the bed will be, the reporter mentions it doesn’t look that deep, but it’s wide enough to carry a good load.
The open bed will be one of several PV5 variants that Kia plans to launch in Europe and Korea later this year, alongside the Passenger, Cargo, and Chassis Cab configurations.
In Europe, the PV5 Passenger is available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, providing WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant is rated with a WLTP range of 181 miles or 247 miles.
Kia will reveal battery specs closer to launch for the open bed variant, but claims it “has the longest driving range among compact commercial EVs in its class.”
In 2027, Kia will launch the larger PV7, followed by an even bigger PV9 in 2029. There’s also a smaller PV1 in the works, which is expected to arrive sometime next year or in 2027.
What do you think of Kia’s electric van? Will it be a game changer? With plenty of variants on the way, it has a good chance. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: HealerTV
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