European EV sales of legacy auto groups that are seeking to sell less polluting models to meet EU CO2 emission targets, outperformed those of Tesla.

Tesla continued to lose market share ahead of a revamp of its popular Model Y, Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said.

China-based EV makers continued to increase domestic sales of battery-electric vehicles while responding to growing demand for plug-in hybrids offshore, he added.

Why it’s important

Global automakers face a 25% import tariff in the United States, the world’s second-largest car market, causing many of them to withdraw their outlooks for 2025.

President Donald Trump’s stance towards emissions standards and uncertainties around tariffs also hampered EV growth in North America.

His deals this month with Britain and China only affect EV sales marginally, but are positive signs for the industry ahead of his potential talks with Korea, Japan and the EU, Lester said.

Global sales of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids rose to 1.5 million in April, the Rho Motion data showed.

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Sales in China were up 32% from the same month of 2024 to 0.9 million vehicles.

Europe reported a 35% year-on-year increase in registrations to 0.3 million cars sold, while in North America they fell 5.6% to 0.1 million.

In the rest of the world, April sales rose by 50%.