Global EV Markets Split in August as Europe Surges and North America Slumps

Electric vehicle sales in August revealed a widening regional divide, with Europe and North America moving in sharply opposite directions while China extended its dominance, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data.

European buyers purchased roughly 380,000 electric vehicles during the month — a 36 percent increase on the same period a year earlier. Continuing state subsidies, an expanding range of lower-priced models and elevated fuel costs all contributed to the result. France saw its EV market share reach a record 41 percent, and Spain announced a new €400 million support programme for the sector.

North America recorded about 140,000 EV sales over the same period, down 33 percent year-on-year. The comparison is partly shaped by an unusually strong August 2025 baseline — sales ran high in the final months before federal tax incentives lapsed — but the shortfall also reflects genuine weakness on both the supply and demand sides. Several automakers cancelled planned model launches after the policy environment turned unfavourable, and the availability of imported vehicles has remained tight.

China, the world’s largest EV market, posted 1.03 million sales in August. Sales of fossil-fuel vehicles and conventional hybrids fell 40 percent over the same period, pushing the clean-energy share of China’s passenger market to 65.2 percent.

Source: Electrek