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Germany’s Volkswagen on Wednesday said its electric vehicle deliveries in Europe in this year’s first quarter were more than double the same period last year, offsetting a sustained sales slump in China.
The company also increased its first-quarter sales of EVs in the US by 51 per cent compared with January to March 2024, to 19,900.
Sales of EVs have increased across Europe during the first three months of the year as carmakers have rolled out new models in anticipation of forthcoming tougher emissions rules from the EU.
The growth in Europe also comes at the same time as a sharp slump in sales in Europe for Tesla, the US-based manufacturer led by US President Donald Trump’s ally Elon Musk, previously the EV market leader in the region.
The rises in Europe and the US took the EV share of VW’s vehicle sales in the quarter up to 10 per cent, from 6 per cent in the same quarter last year, despite a 37 per cent fall in sales of the vehicle type in China. EVs accounted for 158,100 of the group’s sales in Europe, 17 per cent of the total.
Marco Schubert, a VW senior director of sales, said: “Gains in North and South America as well as in Europe have more than compensated for the expected decline in China.”
VW and other legacy brands such as France’s Renault have increased their market share at Tesla’s expense. According to Schmidt Automotive Research, the US brand’s share of Europe’s car market in the first three months was only 1.7 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 and half its 3.4 per cent peak.
VW’s Europe region includes countries across continental Europe and the UK, not just the 27-member EU.
Analysts have said Tesla is suffering both from an ageing product portfolio and a consumer backlash against Musk’s prominent political role, including his interventions in German politics in favour of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
VW’s first-quarter figures were similar to those of luxury-car maker Porsche, controlled by Volkswagen, which reported first-quarter sales on Tuesday. It also reported a surge in US deliveries ahead of the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on most car imports to the US that began on April 3.
Porsche reported a pronounced increase in demand for its electric Macan, whose retail price starts at $75,000. One person at the company attributed the increase to a “Musk effect . . . former Tesla drivers going to Porsche”.
The higher US sales for VW and Porsche increase both companies’ dependence on the US market at the same time that raised tariffs make imported vehicles less competitive in that market.
Both the EU and UK have changed rules about vehicle emissions to support the car industry in light of its vulnerability to the trade war started by Trump. The EU has watered down emissions standards for vehicles, while the UK has reduced the fines facing carmakers that fail to hit EV sales targets.
EV demand has also been bolstered by industry incentives, such as the decision earlier this week by both Ford and VW to offer consumers free home electric chargers, or free power for certain distances.
Ford’s UK managing director, Lisa Brankin, told the Financial Times there was clear demand for electric vehicles.
But she added: “[The consumer incentives] are what’s needed to help drive momentum in the market.”
Also on Wednesday, South Korea’s Kia lowered its target for global annual EV sales by 2030 by 21 per cent, to 1.3mn vehicles, amid the geopolitical uncertainty.
