Europe EV Sales Surge 36% as North America Drops 33% — SkimNews
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- Europe's EV sales surged 36% year-over-year to ~380,000 vehicles in August, with France hitting a record 41% EV market share and the region reaching 3.3 million sales through August (up 29% YoY).
- Spain's Auto+ incentive program completed its first full month, offering €400 million ($465 million) in subsidies including up to €4,500 per new electric passenger car, with eligibility retroactive to January 1.
- North American EV sales fell 33% year-over-year to ~140,000 in August, leaving the region down 21% for the year — partly the result of a tough comparison with the pre-tax-credit rush of late 2025.
- US automakers are canceling new EV models and cutting supply in response to the hostile policy environment after the federal EV tax credit expired September 30, 2025, with September comparisons likely to look even rougher.
- Canada used 15,603 of its 24,500 lower-tariff permits (~64%) for Chinese-built EVs by August 31, with unused permits rolling into a new ~33,000-unit quota running through February 2027.
- China's new energy vehicles expanded their share of the passenger car market to 65.2% (up from 55.2%), even as overall EV sales fell 11% YoY — and NEV exports jumped 150%+ to a record ~518,000 units in August.
- Rest of World EV sales nearly doubled (+97% YoY) to ~290,000 in August, reaching 2 million for the year-to-date and matching Europe as the main engines keeping global growth in positive territory.
Why it matters: Europe's incentive-driven 36% surge is offsetting North America's policy-driven 33% collapse, keeping global EV sales barely positive at 2% growth. With September comparisons set to look even worse — measured against the final, largest month of last year's US tax-credit rush — North American declines are likely to deepen before they improve, making Europe and emerging markets the sole engines of global EV growth.
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