Volkswagen Group models dominated Germany’s electric car sales, taking eight of the top ten best-selling EVs in the first half of the year.
Volkswagen drives Germany’s EV sales growth in H1 2025
Germany’s electric car sales rose 35% in the first half of 2025 with nearly 249,155 units sold, marking a new record.
That’s a stark difference from the first half of 2024, after EV sales fell 16% year-over-year (YOY) after Germany ended its EV subsidy program in 2023.
Even without incentives, electric car sales outpaced the overall market in Germany. Europe’s largest auto market fell 5% with 1,402,789 vehicles sold in the first half of the year. Germany is launching new incentives for EVs starting as early as this month.
According to market researcher Dataforce (via Automotive News), Volkswagen Group dominated Germany’s EV sales, accounting for eight of the top ten best-selling EVs in the first half of 2025.
The Volkswagen ID.7 surprisingly took the top spot, selling 18,017 units. VW cancelled plans to launch the ID.7 in the US earlier this year, citing “a challenging EV climate.”
The Tesla Model Y and BMW iX1 were the only non-VW Group models to crack the top 10. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also saw higher demand, with sales rising 56% to 138,633.
Volkswagen’s Tiguan was the best-selling PHEV with 7,563 units sold, followed by the Cupra Formentor (6,343) and Volvo XC60.
Renault led the growth with sales up 7.9%, followed by Skoda (4.6%), BMW brand (+4.1%), and Ford (+3.7%). Volkswagen Brand sales fell 1.2%, while Mercedes (+0.2%) and Volvo (+0.4%) were about flat. Tesla, on the other hand, saw its sales drop 58% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period the previous year.
In the overall European market, Volkswagen had the most EV registrations in the first half of the year at over 135,000, followed by Tesla (109,262), and BMW (94,658).
The Tesla Model Y was the most registered EV in Europe in H1, followed by the VW ID.4, Tesla Model 3, VW ID.7, and VW ID.3.
Despite the success in its home market, Volkswagen is struggling to overcome the blow from the Trump Administration’s US auto tariffs.
Volkswagen said the tariffs cost it an additional 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in H1 2025 after operating profits plunged 33% to 6.7 billion euros ($7.9 billion).
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