Remember when Tesla had the best-selling vehicle in the world? Now, the beleaguered brand can’t fend off Volkswagen’s fleet of EVs in Europe.
A new report from Jato Dynamics took a close look at new-vehicle registrations in Europe through the first quarter of 2025, and found some surprising information. As of March 31, 65,679 new electric VWs were registered. That’s an astounding year-over-year jump of 157 percent. Meanwhile at Tesla, new registrations fell 38 percent, landing at 53,237. Ouch.
Photo by: Tesla
It’s worth noting that the data here is registrations, rather than sales. Tesla doesn’t report sales by region, and it’s always possible (albeit unlikely) that someone could buy a new car and not register it, for some reason. However, registration data provides a good window into the sales world, and with a difference of over 12,000 new-vehicle registrations, it’s safe to assume Volkswagen is kicking Tesla’s butt right now. In Europe, anyway.
Unlike Tesla, Volkswagen lists vehicle sales by region, and the automaker’s figures support Jato Dynamics’ data. The automaker reported Group EV sales were up 112 percent through Q1 2025, led by VW proper.
“Our products are being well received and show that the Volkswagen Group is on the right track,” said Marco Schubert, Member of the VW Group’s executive committee for sales. “We increased our all-electric deliveries worldwide by around 60 percent in the first quarter. In Europe in particular, we were able to significantly expand our leading position in this segment with a doubling of deliveries.”
VW states the ID.4 and ID.5 are its best-selling EVs across all brands in the Group, accounting for 43,700 global sales through the first quarter. The ID.3 is next at 28,100, followed by the Audi Q4 E-Tron at 22,800 and the Skoda Enyaq at 20,200. As for other VW-specific models, the ID.7 sold 19,100 units and the ID.Buzz, which is available in Europe as a cargo van, logged 12,700 sales.
What is driving the decline at Tesla? In case you’ve been living under a rock, the company is facing global backlash over Elon Musk’s political involvement with US President Donald Trump. Tesla dealerships have been the target of protesters while Tesla owners have come under fire for simply being seen in the cars. And with big tariffs now in effect for a multitude of products imported from Europe—including cars—it seems the only way to stem the tide is for Musk to abandon Washington and start running his company again.
Even then, the damage could be too severe to fix.
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