In the year 2025, Volkswagen shocked the electric vehicle industry when it surpassed Tesla to become the best seller in Europe. According to JATO Dynamics, excellent performance is recorded with 274,278 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) delivered in 2024 compared to 56% less in 2014, and 236,357 vehicles registered by Tesla fell by 27%.

Sales Surge Breakdown

In 2025, the Volkswagen brand delivered approximately 4.73 million vehicles to customers worldwide. In addition, Volkswagen’s sales of all-electric cars rose dramatically, particularly in Germany and Europe. Deliveries increased to approximately 247,900 vehicles throughout all of Europe (+49.1%) and to 93,800 vehicles in the company’s home market of Germany (+60.7%).

The company enjoyed the intensive pricing approaches, increased supply chain efficiencies, and a reinvigorated electric vehicle line up led by the ID series.

The less expensive models contributed to the attraction of price-sensitive consumers in the conditions of tightening subsidies, and the high-end brands in the organization supported profitability levels.

Tesla’s Europe Woes

The threat of substitutes Tesla faces sour competition among European manufacturers such as BMW (193,186 units) and Skoda (172,100 units, a 117% growth), which has been escalated by the emergence of Chinese players after BYD dominated the world in sales of electric vehicles in the previous year. 

Brand loyalty has also been destroyed due to consumer dissatisfaction with the controversial endorsements made by CEO Elon Musk, and it has increased the competition between Tesla Motors and Volkswagen Company with its diverse and affordable offerings.

Expert Take

EVs made a “significant step forward” in Europe in 2025, JATO Dynamics said, with fully-electric car registrations jumping 29% compared to the previous year.

Road Ahead

In 2025, the European market became the world’s fastest-growing major region, with sales of 4.3 million units and a 33% year-on-year growth rate, far exceeding expectations.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data manager Charles Lester says the global market has proved more resilient than many expected.

Lester says.

This time last year few could have predicted the EV market upset that occurred which has resulted in a virtually unrecognizable landscape now as we enter 2026. Globally the EV sales figures have grown by a fifth compared to the previous year which shows how resilient the market is.

Budget cars like the ID will also benefit Volkswagen.  Polo; Tesla, in the meantime, has to update its range in changing subsidies and increased competition with China. 

According to the projections, the competition can get even stronger in 2026 because diversification can be more important than the initial leadership and probably could flip world market shares.