Volkswagen overtakes Tesla and is now the leader in electric car sales in Europe.

The leading electric car manufacturer in Europe is no longer Tesla, due to the sharp drop in sales of Elon Musk's brand in recent months. The new leader of the electric car segment in Europe is now Volkswagen, thanks to the good sales performance of its ID.2, ID.4 and ID.7 vehicles, which have sold more than 119,000 units during the first six months of the year in the European market, compared to 109,000 sold by Tesla.

The change in leadership in the Old Continent is explained by Tesla's downward spiral, with a drop in sales of between 40% and 55% in key European markets such as France and Germany, and an increasingly limited range: Tesla is no longer accepting orders for the Model S and its product portfolio.

All in all, the Model Y remains the sales leader in its segment, with a total of 24,073 units sold in Europe during the first half of 2025, thanks to an aggressive sales offering and increasingly competitive prices. At this point, it's also worth highlighting the great reception of the Renault 5, which is positioned as the fourth best-selling electric vehicle in Europe, a position that will surely improve as soon as the more affordable versions of this French utility vehicle with vintage reminiscences arrive.

Martorell, the key to the return of Volkswagen's electric future

Although it is still too early to predict the commercial trend and Volkswagen's leadership in the segment, it is appropriate to indicate that at the end of this year and beginning of 2026 the new Volkswagen ID.2 will hit the market, an affordable urban utility vehicle (with a base price of around 22,000 euros) that is manufactured with the Cupra Raval, with which it will share a platform and modular elements.

Tesla, for its part, will not offer any other new models in its range, and will base its commercial strategy on a affordable and austere version of the Model Y, a vehicle that, while it works well commercially and offers a very good relationship between price and quality, is not a novelty in the market and that, due to its size, does not cover the urban vehicle segment, right where the new Renault 5 is gaining a place in the market and where the imminent Volkswagen ID.2 and Cupra Raval want to strengthen their position.