Electric cars exceed 15 per cent market share in EU despite sharp decline for Tesla
The market share of fully electric new cars in the European Union exceeded 15 per cent in the first half of 2025, figures from the industry organisation ACEA show. This is despite a decline in sales for Tesla of more than 40 per cent.
From January to June, nearly 5.58 million new passenger cars were sold in the EU. Of these, 869,271 were fully electric, accounting for a market share of 15.6 per cent. A year earlier, this figure was 12.5 per cent. In Belgium, almost 77,000 electric cars were sold, 20 per cent more than in the first six months of 2024.
However, European car industry organisation ACEA nuances the growth. “We are still a long way from a mass switch to electric cars,” a spokesperson said. “Consumers clearly remain cautious, and stronger measures to stimulate demand remain crucial to get the transition off the ground.”
Hybrid cars were the most popular in the first half of the year, with a market share of 34.8 per cent, and plug-in hybrids accounted for another 8.4 per cent. Petrol cars accounted for just over 28 per cent and diesel cars for just under 10 per cent.
The half-year figures confirm once again that Tesla's sales have been hit hard in recent months. The American electric car manufacturer owned by billionaire Elon Musk sold 70,655 cars in the EU, almost 44 per cent less than a year earlier. Tesla currently has a 1.3 per cent share of the car market.
The German car group Volkswagen – which manufactures the VW, Audi and Skoda brands – is the largest in the EU, with a market share of 27.3 per cent. The most popular car brand was VW: one in nine new passenger cars sold was a Volkswagen.
Production of electric cars by German carmaker Volkswagen © PHOTO JENS SCHLUETER / AFP
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