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There were 1.6 million plugin vehicles registered worldwide in July.
Global plugin vehicle registrations were up 19% in July 2025 compared to July 2024. There were over 1.6 million registrations. BEVs grew 31% YoY to over 1 million units, while plugin hybrids were up by just 2% to around 600,000 units in the same period. These trends were largely driven by China, where the EV market favored BEVs in July.
In the end, plugins represented 26% share of the overall auto market (17% BEV share alone), keeping the YTD numbers at 24% share (16% BEV).
Looking at plugless hybrids, in 2025, they are at 13% share, which means that 37% of all cars sold globally have some kind of electrification.
20 Best Selling EV Models in the World in July
Regarding July’s best sellers, the big news is that the leader, the Tesla Model Y, had a positive month, growing 11% YoY thanks to some 89,000 registrations, no doubt helped along by the expected sales rush in the USA before the subsidy end on October 1st.
On the other hand, not even the aforementioned sales rush is saving the Tesla Model 3 sales from staying in the red, with the sedan seeing its deliveries drop by 14% in July to some 29,000 registrations, no doubt squeezed between the increased direct competition and the refresh of the Model Y, which has surely diverted many possible Model 3 clients to the crossover.
This slow performance meant that the US sedan ended the month in 6th, behind the usual podium bearers the Tesla Model Y and BYD Song, but also behind the small BYD Seagull and Geely Xingyuan, both competing for best seller status in the B-segment.
Heck, even the old (by Chinese standards) BYD Qin Plus managed to surpass the Tesla sedan, ending the month in 5th. Then again, BYD’s sedan is still half the age of Tesla’s … (four years vs eight).
Elsewhere, there isn’t much to mention. The new AITO M8 full size SUV ended the month in 11th in only its 4th month on the market thanks to 21,564 sales, and it might continue to grow in the coming months thanks to the upcoming BEV variant.
This time the #19 Geely Galaxy E5 made it to the best sellers table, with 13,190 sales, thanks to a recent refresh and the start of deliveries in a number of export markets.
Besides these two … there were a lot of BYDs on the table. Like, A LOT. 10 models in total. The highlight was the BYD Seal 06, which had its best score this year, 23,809 deliveries.
Off the table, a surprising number of legacy OEM models had positive results. The VW ID.4 ended the month at #21, some 200 units behind the #20 BYD Song L. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 registered 10,354 units, its best performance in 23 months. The Chevrolet Equinox EV hit a record score of 9,484 sales. All of these three models were no doubt helped by the current rising tide in the US EV market.
Also with a record result, but absent from the US market, was the BMW iX1. The compact crossover delivered a best ever 9,358 units, becoming the best selling electric Beemer in July.
Top 20 EV Models YTD
On the year-to-date (YTD) table, the Tesla Model Y and BYD Song held their firm grip on the top positions, while the Tesla Model 3 continued to lose ground to the #4 BYD Seagull and the #5 Geely Xingyue.
With BYD’s baby Lambo just 8,000 units behind the US sedan, it seems likely that the BYD hatchback will surpass the Tesla sedan in August, while the Geely EV might do the same sometime in Q4.
As such, it seems likely that the Model 3 will fail to reach a podium position this year, something it has managed to achieve consistently since 2018….
Regarding position changes, it’s a BYD festival. There were six position changes, four of them benefitting the Shenzhen make:
The veteran Qin Plus managed to surpass the Wuling Mini EV, climbing to #6;
As for the Dolphin, it was up to #11;
The BYD Seal 06 climbed to #12;
Finally, the Yuan Up was … up to #17.
The remaining position changes benefitted the Xpeng Mona M03, which went up one position to 14th, and the little Changan Lumin, which joined the table at #20, kicking out the sunsetting BYD Han.
With plugins already representing 24% or the total global market, it is natural that EVs are showing up on the global top sellers table. As such, we have two representatives:
The Tesla Model Y is 3rd globally, only behind the two Toyota stalwarts, the Corolla and RAV4;
As for the second representative, the BYD Song/Seal U is currently 7th, being the best selling Chinese model on the table.
Top Selling Brands & OEMs
BYD remained at the helm in July, almost tripling the sales of runner-up Tesla, but sales remained flat YoY, as BYD plugin hybrid sales continued to decline. Have we reached Peak BYD?
Time will tell, but I believe in the long run, no single OEM will have more than 10% market share. Currently, BYD has twice that much….
Still on the podium, runner-up Tesla had a flat month, selling 500 more units than in the same month last year, thanks in no small part to the sales rush in its domestic market. Meanwhile, 3rd placed Geely once again broke into the 6-digit sales level.
Wuling was 4th, followed closely by #5 Volkswagen and #6 BMW.
Down below, the highlight is #7 Leapmotor continuing its record streak. Its sales jumped to some 50,000 units, thus making it the hottest selling Chinese startup at this point.
Still on the Chinese startup list, a mention goes out to Xpeng, which jumped to 9th thanks to 37,000 registrations, a new record for the startup. That was much thanks to the successful launch of the compact Mona M03 compact, and with a hot, new P7 flagship sedan liftback landing soon, there are reasons to expect more record performances coming from the Guangzhou startup.
Hyundai was 12th, thanks to a record 30,625 registrations, ending just above #13 Xiaomi and #14 Toyota.
#19 Ford had its best result since December 2022, this being another beneficiary of the current rising tide in the USA.
Outside the top 20, we should also highlight Changan’s Qiyuan, which had 20,063 sales. The mainstream EV brand almost beat the premium arm of Changan, #20 Deepal. Czechia’s Skoda was also close to a top 20 presence, thanks to 19,463 sales. Will Skoda join the best sellers table soon?
In the YTD table, there wasn’t much to report at the top. BYD is well ahead of everyone else, while #2 Tesla has a significant advantage over #3 Geely, with the same being said about Geely and #4 Wuling.
So the podium for this year is already defined:
#1 BYD: Will be its 4th consecutive Best Seller title, or its 7th in total, ever since it won its first back in 2015.
#2 Tesla: The Texan brand will collect its fourth consecutive silver medal.
#3 Geely: Might be hard to believe, but this will be Geely’s first podium appearance on the global stage. But I am sure this will be the first of many….
Below the podium, there’s no news, and we need to go to the second half of the table to see some changes. Jumping down there, AITO profited from the success of its recent M8 and jumped three positions, finishing July at #12, while Audi was up one spot to #18.
Looking at registrations by OEM, despite a harsh 0.6% drop in July, #1 BYD is still quite comfortable in the lead. It has an advantage of 12.1% market share over #2 Geely, which has also seen its share drop in July, from 11.1% in June to its current 10.8%.
In Tesla-land, the US make had an expected slow month in July, going down from 8% to its current 7.9%.
Still, 7.9% is a significant 3.2% share drop YoY, so the sales problem continues.
Below the podium, both #4 Volkswagen Group (-0,1%) and #5 SAIC (-0,2%) lost share, meaning that all top 5 OEMs lost share in July.
Which raises the question: If the top sellers are losing share, then who is winning?
Answer: Chinese startups and … some legacy OEMs!
Hot startups like Leap Motor, Xpeng, AITO, and Xiaomi are eating sales of established Chinese OEMs, while some legacy OEMs, like #8 BMW Group (3.6%, up 0.1% in July) and #9 Hyundai–Kia (3.3%, up 0.1%) are eating someone else’s (ahem, Tesla’s…) lunch.
Looking just at BEVs …
While BYD (17.1% in July, down from 17.3% in June) is stable in its leadership position, Tesla (12%, down 0.2% compared to June) gained some ground over #3 Geely (11.2%, down 0.3%).
In 4th, SAIC kept Volkswagen Group at bay, but with fewer than 4,000 units separating these two, it will be interesting to see how the race will develop in the rest of the year.
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