Global EV Sales Hit 1.85 Million in July 2026 — Europe Is the Growth Engine, North America Falls Hard

Leading national markets saw particularly strong gains. France posted a 35% BEV market share in July, with sales surging 127% year-over-year, supported by an income-based purchase incentive and a third round of the social leasing program — which offered rates as low as €94 per month for models like the Citroën ë-C3 . Germany, the region's largest BEV market by volume, recorded a 29% BEV share (+62%), driven largely by private buyers qualifying for purchase incentives of up to €6,000 . The UK reported a record 27.5% BEV market share, with registrations up 44.5% . The Netherlands and Belgium also posted strong gains, and Denmark's BEV share reached 80% .

Policy drivers behind the European surge include the reintroduction of national subsidies across major auto markets over the past 18 months, expanded charging infrastructure, elevated fuel prices, tightening EU CO₂ targets, and a growing array of competitive — especially affordable Chinese — EV models .

China: Record Market Share, But Retail Weakness Persists

China's EV market presents a more complicated picture, as data reported through two different lenses yields different headline numbers.

CAAM wholesale data (which includes exports) shows that total New Energy Vehicle (NEV) sales reached 1.561 million units in July, accounting for a record 60.4% of all new vehicle sales — the first time the share has exceeded 60% . Year-over-year growth on this basis was +23.7% . NEV production also hit a record 1.576 million units .

CPCA retail data tells a more restrained story. NEV retail penetration hit a record 65.1% in July (up 11.6 percentage points YoY), but retail volumes fell for the seventh consecutive month . Pure battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) saw retail sales of approximately 647,000 units, up 6% year-over-year, while plug-in hybrid (PHEV) retail sales declined 21.1% .

The export boom was the real story. NEV exports surged to somewhere between 540,000 and 553,000 units in July — up roughly 1.5 times year-over-year — and accounted for more than half of China's total vehicle exports for the second straight month . BYD alone exported 173,721 NEVs in July, giving it a 32.2% share of China's NEV export market . Tesla China ranked third in exports, shipping 66,330 units . This export boom partly offset softer domestic retail demand.

Top-performing automaker: BYD delivered 419,211 NEVs in July, up 21.7% year-over-year, its highest monthly sales of the year .

Methodological note: BMI's global figure of 1.85 million uses a narrower EV definition and different cross-border methodology than CAAM's broader NEV count. The BMI figure for China is reported at roughly 980,000 units , which accounts for the difference between China's total domestic wholesale production and the units counted in BMI's cross-region tally.

North America: Sharpest Global Decline

North America was the weakest major EV market in July 2026. Sales fell to approximately 140,000 units, a -27% decline year-over-year . Year-to-date sales through July stood at 900,000 units, down 18% from the same period in 2025 .

U.S. performance was the primary culprit. U.S. EV sales fell more than 30% year-over-year in July alone, even as overall light-vehicle sales dipped only 1.4% . A modest recovery in Q2 briefly emerged, but July reversed that trend .

Policy causes are clear and well-documented. The removal of the federal $7,500 EV tax credit in September 2025 under the Trump administration, combined with pro-fossil-fuel policies, reduced regulatory pressure, and the expiration of purchase incentives, has sharply curtailed demand . Discounts have also shrunk, further suppressing sales . Moreover, a rush to purchase EVs in 2024 and early 2025 ahead of the credit's expiration inflated the comparison base, making the year-over-year declines appear even steeper .

Rest of World: The Quiet Growth Story

Markets outside Europe, China, and North America accounted for roughly 280,000 EVs in July 2026 — derived as the residual from the global total of 1.85 million minus the three major regions .

These markets showed the strongest growth momentum of any region. In the first half of 2026, EV sales in the rest of the world were up approximately 98% year-over-year, totaling about 1.4 million units through June . Key contributors include India, Southeast Asia, Brazil, and Australia, where policy support and new model launches are driving adoption .