Despite frequent media articles about the slowdown of the electric vehicle market, and generally unrealized predictions about their sales, the latest data for the year 2025 nevertheless indicate stable global growth. According to a study by the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Institute, global demand for zero-emission cars jumped 20% last year, reaching a total of 20.7 million units sold. Growth was recorded in almost all regions of the world, with the exception of North America.
China continues to hold the position of absolute leader in the e-mobility sector. Last year, 12.9 million electric cars were sold there, which represents an increase of 17% year-on-year. As a result, China is responsible for more than half of the world’s total sales of electric cars, thus remaining the main driver of the global transition of the transportation sector to electricity.
A historic turn in the EU
On European soil, data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) indicate a key turning point in the long-standing rivalry between internal combustion engines and electric drives. In 2025, for the first time in history, electric vehicles with battery power will surpass the sales of gasoline vehicles in the 27 member states of the European Union. This happened in December, for which the data show that the share of gasoline models in sales is 22.5%, while battery-electric models are at 22.6%. The best sellers are still mild hybrids with 33.7%, and plug-in hybrids accounted for 10.7% of sales in December.
At the level of the whole year, a total of 1.88 million new electric cars were registered in the EU, with which this segment took 17.4 percent of the market share.
While the electric car market is growing, gasoline and diesel engines are experiencing a significant decline. Their combined market share fell to 35.5%, which is a drastic decrease compared to the 45.2% recorded in 2024. The segment of gasoline vehicles was particularly affected, whose registrations fell by 18.7%, with the most pronounced decline in France and Germany.
Looking at individual markets within the EU, the four leading countries that account for 62% of all electric vehicle registrations show a positive trend. Germany leads the way with growth of 43.2%, followed by the Netherlands, Belgium and France also with double-digit growth rates. Despite these positive figures, ACEA notes that the total sales volumes of all types of vehicles are still below the levels recorded before the pandemic, leaving room for further development of the infrastructure and market.
If you look at the sales data by manufacturer, the leading position is maintained by the Volkswagen concern with a sales increase of 5.5%, followed traditionally by Stellantis (-4.7%) and the Renault group (+5.6%). Tesla recorded the largest single sales decline (-37.9%), although their Models Y and 3 are still ranked first and third respectively in the ranking of the best-selling electric models.