25 August 2025
One brand drove global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the first half of 2025. However, competition is growing in the market. Autovista24 editor Tom Geggus explores the latest data from EV Volumes.
Global EV sales, consisting of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), increased 34.3% in the first half of 2025. In total, 9,535,141 plug-in vehicles took to the world’s roads.
Of these sales, 63.5% were all-electric models, up by 0.1 percentage points (pp) from the first half of 2024. Accordingly, the PHEV share of the global EV market fell to 36.5% from 36.6% a year prior.
BYD tops brand table
With a commanding global lead, BYD sold the most EVs in the first half of 2025. The brand recorded 1,897,185 plug-in deliveries, up 33.3% year on year. This volume even exceeded the cumulative total of the other brands in the top five. It ended the period with a market share of 19.9% as a result.
Two models helped drive BYD’s performance in the first half of the year. The Seagull, also known as the Dolphin Surf, pushed volumes alongside the Song Plus, also known as the Seal U.
Since the start of 2025, the two models have battled it out to be BYD’s dominant driver of sales. After some close months, both ended up accounting for 9.2% of the brand’s total EV sales in June.
Across the first half of the year, the Seagull saw 200,079 sales, making up 10.5% of BYD’s sales. Meanwhile, the Song Plus was not far behind with a 9.9% share and 188,484 deliveries.
Falling market share
Despite its commanding position, BYD’s global EV market share dropped by 0.1pp. Just three other carmakers in the top ten also saw their hold on the market weaken as competition heated up.
One such brand was Tesla, which saw far greater declines in its market share and its sales. Relying purely on BEV deliveries, the carmaker’s hold fell by 4.2pp year-on-year to 7.5%. It was the only brand in the top 10 to see its deliveries fall, dropping 13.1% to 719,325 units.
Of these, the Model Y was by far the brand’s best-selling vehicle. Each month so far this year, it has represented over half of Tesla’s volumes, reaching a peak of 70.6% in June. It was trailed by the Model 3, only once breaking the 40% share barrier in February.
In the first half of the year, the Model Y accounted for 65.2% of the carmaker’s sales, with 469,143 units. Recording 227,210 sales, the Model 3 was far behind its stablemate, making up 31.6% of Tesla’s volumes. However, this still far exceeded the Cybertruck, with 11,225 deliveries and a 1.6% share. The model is, however, only officially available in North America at present.
Geely gains ground
Geely, including Galaxy, held on to third place with 527,954 sales, equating to a year-on-year increase of 286.3%. Within the top 10, the carmaker enjoyed the greatest boost to its market share, climbing 3.6pp to 5.5%.
A good portion of this success was thanks to the Geely Geome Xingyuan. Since its first sales in September last year, it has enjoyed growing popularity, overtaking its stablemates like the Panda Mini.
It was the brand’s biggest volume model in the first half of 2025, with 205,091 units sold exclusively in China. This meant it made up 38.8% of the carmaker’s EV sales, far ahead of the Panda Mini in second with 17.3%. Not too far behind these BEVs was the Galaxy Starship 7. The PHEV made up 13.4% of the brand’s EV sales volume in the first half of the year.
Brands battle it out
Wuling, including Baojung, saw its market share increase by 0.7pp to 3.8% in fourth. Its sales climbed by 65.5% to 364,649 units.
In fifth, Volkswagen (VW) saw its deliveries rise by 39% to 278,333 EVs. This gave it a market share of 2.9%, up from 2.8% 12 months ago.
This meant the German brand was able to overtake its local competitor, BMW, which slipped to sixth. Its hold on the market fell by 0.9pp to 2.8% as it sold 270,053 EVs, up by only 1.6%. In seventh, Chery’s EV deliveries grew by 155.9% compared with the first half of 2024. With 224,548 units sold, the brand’s market share doubled to 2.4% as it continues to expand its global presence.
Leapmotor was not far behind in eighth place. Its hold on the market nearly doubled as well, increasing to 2.3% from 1.2% a year ago. Its sales climbed by 148.8% year on year to 216,980 units.
Li Auto had a less successful first half as its market share dropped to 2.2% from 2.9% a year ago. However, highlighting the competitive nature of the market, its EV sales climbed by 4.5% to 213,109 units in the period.
Finally, in 10th, Xpeng saw the second-greatest sales growth in the table, with deliveries up by 266.9% to 197,973 units. Its share climbed from 0.8% in the first half of 2024 to 2.1% between January and June this year.
