The market share of fully electric new cars in the European Union surpassed 15% in the first half of 2025, despite a sales drop of more than 40% at Tesla, according to industry data from ACEA released on Thursday.
From January to June, nearly 5.58 million new passenger cars were sold in the EU, a 1.9% decrease from the same period last year. Of these, 869,271 were fully electric, marking an 8% increase and accounting for a 15.6% market share, up from 12.5% a year earlier. In Belgium, nearly 77,000 electric cars were sold, a 20% rise from the first half of 2024.
However, ACEA advises caution regarding the market share growth. “We are far from a mass shift to electric vehicles,” the organisation stated, emphasising that “consumers remain cautious, and stronger measures to boost demand are crucial to driving the transition.”
Hybrid vehicles were the most popular in the first half of the year, with a market share of 34.8% and an additional 8.4% for plug-in hybrids. Petrol cars captured over 28% of the market, while diesel vehicles accounted for nearly 10%.
The data also highlighted Tesla’s declining sales performance over recent months. The American electric car manufacturer, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, sold just 70,655 cars in the EU, a drop of nearly 44% compared to the previous year. Tesla’s market share now stands at 1.3%.
The German automotive group Volkswagen, which includes brands such as VW, Audi, and Skoda, is the largest in the EU with a market share of 27.3%. Volkswagen was the most popular car brand, with one in nine new passenger cars sold being a Volkswagen, translating to an 11.3% market share.
