European new vehicle sales data for July has revealed interesting trends particularly in the electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) segments, where Tesla continues to lose ground and the Volkswagen Group is surging up the charts.
As reported by industry journal Automotive News Europe, seven-month sales figures from market researcher Dataforce has revealed EV and PHEV sales together are up 26 per cent across Europe to 1.38 million units, despite a flat market overall through July.
The Tesla Model Y remains Europe’s favourite EV, however it’s down 33 per cent year to date (75,139) as is the Model 3 (44,103). Meanwhile, the Volkswagen ID.4 (46,627, up 35 per cent) and ID.3 (44,352, up 38 per cent) round out the sales podium and lead the Group’s EV charge, which has seen a near doubling in volume to 394,617 units.
Perhaps more surprising – at least from SUV-hungry Australia – is that the Model 3 could soon be overtaken by the new VW ID.7, effectively an all-electric companion to the Passat, which has surged 457 per cent (43,566) and currently sits in fifth place right behind the Tesla sedan.
Other key drivers of Europe’s EV growth include the new Skoda Elroq (42,564), Kia EV3 (40,794) and Renault 5 E-Tech (39,752).
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Above:Volkswagen’s ID. and eHybrid models are surging in Europe
In the PHEV space, sales are up by 26 per cent to 706,457 units through the end of July, with Chinese brands doing the bulk of the heavy lifting with new models – accounting for 11 per cent of the PHEV market overall. For reference, Chinese brands only held 2.0 per cent share the same period in 2024.
According to Automotive News Europe, this is partly due to Chinese brands pivoting to PHEVs after the European Union raised import tariffs on China-made EVs “to protect local automakers from what it called unfair subsidies handed out by the Chinese state”.
In addition to the onslaught of new Chinese models in the region, again the VW Group is seeing strong growth in the PHEV arena. The Volkswagen Tiguan is Europe’s favourite plug-in hybrid, with PHEV versions of the German brand’s SUV returning 38,337 sales during the January-July period.
Second was the BYD Seal U – known here as the Sealion 6 –with 35,094 sales, while last year’s leader, the Volvo XC60, took bronze with 34,506 units (down 1.8 per cent). The Ford Kuga (25,109, down 0.1 per cent), BMW X1 (23,438, up 12 per cent) and Toyota C-HR (23,099) were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
While Chinese brands were called out as key drivers of PHEV growth, no Chinese models beyond the Seal U made Europe’s top 10.
Above: BYD’s Sealion 6 (Seal U) amd Shark 6 dominate the Australian PHEV market
This is a stark contrast to the Australian market, which is dominated by Tesla and BYD in the EV space, with BYD also the PHEV leader Down Under by some margin.
Similarly, the VW Group is underrepresented in EV and PHEV sales given its dominance back home, though its brands are steadily rolling out a number of models locally as they become more readily available from the factory.
Australia is arguably a much more developed market for the Chinese brands than Europe, and the lack of tariffs on vehicle imports from the nation means pricing of China-made EV and PHEVs is a strong suit, rather than a weakness. Conversely, European-sourced vehicles are still slugged with a 5.0 per cent import tariff.
Stay tuned to CarExpert for the latest VFACTS Australian new vehicle sales data (bolstered by EV Council figures for Tesla and Polestar) later this week.
MORE: Australia’s best-selling EVs in the first half of 2025