- North America lost more than a quarter of its EV buyers in a year.
- Europe’s 23 percent surge is masking weakness across the globe.
- Global EV and PHEV sales are barely ahead of last year’s pace.
Global demand for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is still growing, but only just. A surge in Europe is barely covering for weakness almost everywhere else, China included. North America is the glaring weak spot, with buyers there pulling back hard, and a 0.9 percent year-to-date gain worldwide shows how little cushion the rest of the market has left.
Analysts at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence report roughly 1.8 million EVs and PHEVs sold worldwide in May 2026. That’s 7 percent more than April, and 3 percent more than the same month last year. Stack up the year so far and the total reaches about 7.5 million units, just 0.9 percent ahead of where 2025 stood at this point.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Data Manager Charles Lester said regional performance remains highly uneven, with policy changes and local market conditions continuing to shape demand.
Read: Global EV And PHEV Sales Rise, But North America Lost Over A Quarter Of Its Buyers
Europe has been key to this growth. Sales there are up 23 percent year-over-year and hit around 420,000 in May, while total year-to-date sales sit at approximately 2 million, a 26 percent rise compared to January-May 2025. Benchmark credits EV incentive programs and higher fuel prices for keeping demand up.
Much of that lift traces back to Chinese-built EVs. They made up 19 percent of European EV sales in 2025, and the share has kept climbing through 2026 despite EU tariffs. In the UK, Chinese-made EVs and PHEVs account for roughly 32 percent of sales. Germany sits at 14 percent, a strong showing given how firmly local buyers stick with homegrown brands. France, by comparison, sits at 10 percent.
EV And PHEV Global Sales
Source: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Around the rest of the world, excluding China and North America, sales have also increased roughly 80 percent year-over-year to around 250,000 units. Year-to-date EV and PHEV sales have also shot up 89 percent to 1.1 million.
China Is Down
Things aren’t so rosy in China. While it is still the largest single market for new EV and PHEV sales, year-over-year sales are down 9 percent, to approximately 990,000 units in May. Similarly, year-to-date sales dropped 15 percent to 3.9 million against the same stretch last year. The good news is that May’s figures were up 11 percent from April, so it seems China is starting to recover.
Even with softer demand at home, Chinese NEV exports hit a record of nearly 450,000 units in May, with BYD, Chery, and Geely leading the push. Benchmark also notes battery demand has held up better than vehicle sales, as buyers increasingly move toward larger EVs with bigger packs.
Then there’s North America. Between the axing of the US federal EV tax credit last year and the resulting retreat by many legacy brands away from EVs, demand stays weak. Roughly 120,000 applicable vehicles were sold across the region in May, down 26 percent year-over-year. Through the first five months of 2026, sales were down 25 percent to 580,000. The analysis does not break down overall North American sales by country.
