The Western European new passenger car market ended the opening half of the year with 6.44 million new units registered, an increase of 5.9% y/y, and an even higher growth rate of 7.6% during the second quarter of the year compared to the same period last year. Despite being the strongest volume opening half of the year during the post-COVID period, which began in 2020, volumes nonetheless remained 1.2 million adrift of pre-COVID 2019 levels (7.64mn). More concerning for incumbents is the fact that if new market entrants, which have had a genuine market presence of less than 15 years, are subtracted from the volumes, incumbent brands delivered just 5.66 million units, which shows no improvement over the COVID years and is 2 million units adrift of 2019 levels. Production facilities remain underutilised, and more adjustments will likely be needed for OEMs to remain competitive in this new market reality.