Volkswagen takes back the electric crown from Tesla in Europe

The race for the top EV seller title took an unexpected turn last year. Until now, it looked like Tesla could never be beaten. Unfortunately for the American automaker, the old guard is back, with Volkswagen taking the number one position for electric vehicle sales in Europe. This is a major shift in the car market, and it shows that buyers in Europe are starting to look at different options when they shop for EVs.

New numbers from the auto industry tell a clear story - Volkswagen had a very strong year. The company delivered about 274,000 battery-electric vehicles in Europe in 2025. This is a growth of more than 50 percent compared to the year before, and it allowed Volkswagen to pass Tesla and take the lead. For a company that has been making cars for a long time, this is a big win against the newer American rival.

On the other hand, Tesla had a tough year in Europe. The company is famous for kickstarting the electric revolution, but its sales dropped significantly. Tesla’s deliveries fell by about 27 percent, and the company finished the year with roughly 239,000 units sold. That is still a lot of cars, but the trend is going down while Volkswagen is going up. The gap between the two brands shows how quickly customer tastes can change.

Even though Tesla lost the overall brand title, it still managed to keep one trophy. The Tesla Model Y remained the single best-selling electric car in Europe. In 2025, customers bought 151,331 Model Y vehicles. But even this success has a downside. That sales number is nearly 30 percent lower than it was the year before. The Tesla Model 3 also saw a drop in popularity - it finished the year with just over 86,000 deliveries.

Volkswagen used a different strategy to win. Rather than relying on just one superstar car, the company had a whole team of electric cars contributing to the win. The Volkswagen ID.4 was the leader for the brand. It had more than 80,000 sales. The smaller ID.3 followed close behind. Then there is the new ID.7. This model is growing very fast; it posted triple-digit growth from the year before. This shows that having a wide variety of fresh models helped Volkswagen catch more buyers.

The entire EV market in Europe is getting bigger. In 2025, the total number of battery-electric vehicles sold jumped by about 30 percent. In total, about 2.6 million EVs were sold across the region, including in the UK. This makes Tesla’s drop even more painful. The market was growing, but Tesla was shrinking. Volkswagen, however, was ready. They offered cars in many different sizes and prices, and this plan worked well.

Volkswagen also took the top spot for plug-in hybrids. When you look at every type of engine - gas, diesel, and electric - Volkswagen finished first overall. They have been the top-selling car maker in Europe for more than two decades. This latest win with EVs just cements their position as the leader on their home turf.

Things are not perfect for Volkswagen everywhere. When you look at the whole world, the picture is a bit mixed. Their total global sales for electric cars were mostly flat. The big gains in Europe were canceled out by drops in other places. Sales went down in North America and China. So, while the company is celebrating a big victory in Europe, it still has work to do in other parts of the world.

Via