Skoda, VW and Tesla swap EV leadership in different Europe markets

New numbers published in the first days of the new month from Europe’s automotive associations shows that EV demand remains steady across most markets, with sales remaining higher in the north and lower throughout the south.

Norway saw 13,915 new passenger cars registered in August, with EVs accounting for 13,482 new cars, a 97 per cent share for the fourth month in the last five.

The Tesla Model Y was by far the best-selling car, with 2,456 new models registered in August, and helping the carmaker hit a total of 3,014 new cars sold for the month. Volkswagen was second with 1,782, with the ID.4, ID.3, and ID.7 all making it into the top six best-selling car models for the month.

Sweden saw 20,168 new passenger cars registered in August, including 6,772 EVs and 5,134 plug-in hybrids, accounting for a 33.5 per cent and 25.5 per cent share, respectively, which was around the same as in July.

Tesla sold only 250 new models in August, down 84.4 per cent from August 2024 when the company sold 1,348 new cars. Swedish-based Polestar outsold Tesla by some margin, selling 428 new cars in August. Volkswagen’s EV range dominated with the ID.7/ID.7 Tourer selling 441 new models, the ID.4 300, the ID.3 189, and the ID. Buzz 52.

In Denmark, 13,030 new cars were sold in August, with EVs accounting for 69 per cent with 8,990 – though it is unclear from Mobility Denmark’s numbers, provided by bilstatistik.dk, whether this refers to all electrified vehicles or only battery EVs.

This was up a couple of percentage points on July. Fully electric cars took the top 3 spots in Denmark, led by the Skoda Elroq (672), Volkswagen ID.4 (566), and the Skoda Enyaq iV (561). The Tesla Model Y was the sixth best-selling car in August with 306 new models sold.

Spain saw a massive increase in the number of new electrified vehicles sold in August, up 163 per cent over August 2024. Of the 73,946 new vehicles sold in August, electrified vehicles accounted for nearly 22 per cent with 16,085 units sold, including 7,786 EVs (10.5 per cent, marginally up on the 8.4 per cent seen in July) and 8,299 plug-in and range-extending hybrids (11.2 per cent).

In Portugal, 15,463 new vehicles were registered in August, with “alternative energy” vehicles accounting for 66.7 per cent, including EVs with 20.5 per cent of the month’s total cars sold, around the same as July. Plug-in hybrids accounted for 14.1 per cent, and basic hybrids 23.7 per cent.

While Italy is expecting new incentives for EVs to drive increased demand, the country’s car market fell slightly in August to 67,272 new registrations. EVs accounted for only 4.9 per cent, just as it did in July, while plug-in hybrids accounted for 6.9 per cent and mild and full hybrids took home 8.9 per cent.

Finland saw an even greater decline in car sales with only 5,262 new passenger vehicles registered in August, down 19.7 per cent compared to August 2024. A total of 1,941 EVs were sold in August, accounting for 37 per cent of the market share, up on the 24.4 per cent recorded in July.

“From a year-round perspective, the positive thing about the car trade is that electrification is progressing rapidly in Finland,” said Tero Lausala, CEO of the Finnish Automotive Federation.

“The share of fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids among newly registered passenger cars has risen to 55.9 percent for the entire current year. The share of charging in vans is also growing.”

The Netherlands saw a slight decline in new registrations, down 3 per cent to 27,404. Hybrids accounted for 49 per cent with 13,074 cars registered in August, while EVs accounted for 33.9 per cent with 9,051. The Skoda Elroq was the most registered EV model in August with 730, followed by the Kia EV3 (453) and Tesla Model Y (438).

New car registrations in Ireland totalled 7,615 in August, including 2,126 EVs, up an impressive 69.3 per cent on the 1,256 registered in August 2024 and accounting for a 16.5 per cent market share for the month, down only slightly on last month. Plug-in hybrids took home a 14.7 per cent market share, and basic hybrids 22.3 per cent.

26,120 new passenger cars were registered in Belgium during August, down 11 per cent compared to August 2024. EVs were the second most popular engine type in August with a market share of 32.9 per cent, followed by hybrid engines at 20.5 per cent. A total of 485 Teslas were sold in August, down 61 per cent on the same month a year earlier.

And finally, in France, a total of 87,850 new passenger car registrations were recorded, with EVs accounting for 19 per cent and hybrids accounting for 7 per cent. This was up slightly up on August of 2024, when EVs accounted for a market share of 15 per cent (and hybrids 7 per cent), up by two points on July, and is the equal highest market share for 2025.