The Ford Kuga PHEV has long been one of the most popular plug-in hybrids across Europe, which is notable given how popular PHEVs are in that region. In fact, the Ford Kuga PHEV closed out 2023 as Europe’s best-selling plug-in hybrid in general, and that success had thus far carried through much of the 2024 calendar year. Things did take a turn for the worse in May 2024, however, as the Kuga PHEV slipped down the sales charts a bit.
According to new data from JATO Dynamics, the Ford Kuga PHEV fell down to fourth place on the European sales charts in May with 2.676 units sold – a 43 percent year-over-year decrease. That ranks it behind the Volvo XC60, BMW X1, and Cupra Formentor this time around. It’s a big change from the first few months of the year, as the Kuga PHEV ranked second as recently as March before moving down to third in April and now fourth. Much of this decline could be due to the fact that the refreshed Ford Kuga just debuted in January, meaning that a production changeover was in order, while some customers were/are inevitably awaiting its arrival, too.
As for the overall European new car market, its sales declined by 2.5 percent versus May 2023, finishing the month with 1,087,699 units sold. At least part of this drop was driven by a 10 percent decline in EV and PHEV sales, which went from 250,530 units sold in May 2023 to 226,665 in May 2024, leaving the door open for cheaper Chinese rivals that are beginning to invade that particular market.
“Since the global pandemic, the European car market has only recovered to 75-80 percent of its original size,” said Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics. “As a result, many factories across Europe are not operating at full capacity, giving Chinese OEMs a unique opportunity to sell across Europe while avoiding tariffs. This negative result comes as a result of high BEV and PHEV prices – with these cars still unaffordable for the masses.”
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Comments
Ford must bring the Kuga to all the Americas (including the U.S.) to compete against the Asian imports.
It has its called the escape