Global EV Sales — EVs Now 21% of World Auto Sales in 2025

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1.6 Million Units in March, 4.1 Million YTD

Global plugin vehicle registrations were up 25% in March 2025 compared to March 2024. There were over 1.6 million registrations. More good news is that BEVs pulled further ahead of plugin hybrids, growing 32% YoY to 1.1 million units compared to plugin hybrids growing 14% to some half a million units in the same period.

In the end, plugins represented 25% share of the overall auto market (17% BEV share alone), pulling the YTD numbers to 21% share (14% BEV). This means that the global automotive market remains firmly on the path to electrification.

Full electric vehicles (BEVs) represented 67% of plugin registrations in March, keeping the year-to-date tally at 66% share. 2024 finished with a 63% share for BEVs, so 2025 is turning out to be a positive year for pure electrics in this metric, too.

20 Best Selling EV Models in the World in March

Back to March’s best sellers: While the Tesla Model Y stayed in the lead, its monthly tally, some 88,000 deliveries, was down by 26% YoY. With the first refreshed units landing in March, it was expected that the numbers would recover somewhat. Maybe during Q2? More on this topic on the OEM’s comments….

Still on Tesla, the Model 3 ended the month in 3rd, thanks to some 60,000 registrations, which wasn’t enough to remove the BYD Song from the runner-up spot despite the BYD SUV’s so-so score (with the midsizer dropping its registrations by 7% YoY, to 61,000 units).

Still, it was better than its sedan sibling, the Qin Plus, which fell by almost half (45%) in March to a little over 28,000 units, earning it just the 8th position. Maybe it is time for BYD to refresh its two bread and butter models?

Speaking of BYD, the Shenzhen make placed the Song in the runner-up spot, between the two Teslas. The little Seagull ended in the 5th position, with over 37,000 deliveries, and … seven other BYD models made it into the top 20. I won’t bother mentioning them all — that’s a lot of BYDs….

Talking about models not named Tesla or BYD, the highlight is the tiny Wuling Mini EV, which ended the month in 4th with almost 40,000 deliveries, its best score since October 2022. This was in no small part thanks to the new 5-door version.

Another model shining was the Geely Geome Xingyuan hatchback, which delivered another record performance, 32,481 registrations. That allowed it to end the month in 6th and win its size category title. The car has been a welcome surprise, and it should have a bright future in export markets. The question is, when will Geely market it outside of China? Probably when local demand is met. But when will that be?

Another highlight this month was the continued success of the Xiaomi SU7, a Model S–sized car that somehow resembles a Porsche and yet costs Model 3 money. With over 29,000 registrations, it ended the month in 7th. With the sporty sedan still limited to its domestic market, one wonders how many more units it will be able to sell in export markets once available outside of China. Once it crosses Chinese borders, will this become the best selling sedan in the EV world?

Elsewhere, a mention also goes out to Xpeng’s Mona M03, which had over 16,000 deliveries in March, a new record score for the liftback-that-looks-like-a-sedan.

Off the table, for once, the main highlights come from legacy OEMs. In the Kia stable, the recently introduced EV3 continued ramping up, hitting a record 11,070 registrations, its first five-digit score. And in BMW’s stable, the i4 fastback had its best performance since December 2023, thanks to 10,115 units, which is a good omen for the upcoming Neue Klasse models.

Another model shining was the Denza D9 luxury bus large MPV. With 11,168 sales, it had its best score in over a year. This is thanks to the start of its overseas operations, where the striking people mover has been met with success in Southeast Asian markets. The highlight was Indonesia, where it sold close to 1,600 units in March alone!

Top 20 EV Models YTD

In the year-to-date (YTD) table, the Tesla Model Y and BYD Song continue firm in the top positions, while the Tesla Model 3 profited from its end-of-quarter peak performance to cement its #3 position, now benefitting from a 41,000-unit lead over the #4 Geely Xingyuan.

Interestingly, the podium positions in the first quarter replicate the 2024, 2023, and 2022 final standings — the Tesla Model Y on top, followed by the BYD Song and Tesla Model 3. Considering the current trends, it doesn’t seem like there will be major changes to the podium by the end of the year, so 2025 will be the 4th year in a row with the same podium standings. Boooring….

Things are much more interesting below, though. Both the #5 BYD Seagull and #6 Wuling Mini EV got closer to the #4 Geely Xingyuan, with all three models separated by fewer than 3,000 units.

Expect an entertaining race between these three small EVs — and i wish someone took this wish seriously and raced these three cars in an actual race track, like the Shanghai International Circuit.

The first position change happened in the 9th position, with the BYD Yuan Plus jumping three spots and stealing the compact/C-segment category lead from the Xpeng Mona M03.

Still on the BYD stable, we should highlight two new representatives on the table, with the Yuan Up/Atto 2 small crossover joining the table at #19 while the Dolphin hatchback returned to the table at #20.

Is it just me, or are small cars on the rise?…

Elsewhere, the Li Xiang L6 jumped three positions, to #13, while the VW ID.4 took profit from someone else’s (ahem * Geely’s* ahem) misfortunes to climb one position to #14.

Easter Egg Bonus 1

Have you ever wondered what are the best selling EVs outside the usual Big 3 markets (China, Europe, North America)?

Well, I have wondered about that too, and got an answer. Excluding those three large economic blocks, the 3 top sellers are:

1. BYD Song — 23,503 units
2. Tesla Model Y — 13,029 units
3. Vinfast VF3 — 12,937 units

While the top two weren’t really that surprising, with the BYD model benefitting from significant volumes in Brazil (8,600 units this year) and the Tesla crossover having a more balanced distribution (with Australia being the biggest market — 3,114 units), the 3rd spot was indeed surprising, with the Vietnamese model narrowly beating the BYD Yuan Plus/Atto 3.

While the tiny Vinfast EV has little to no volume in export markets, its home market alone is enough to post significant volumes and beat most of the competition. This shows that, right now, entry barriers to the EV business are smaller than in the previous ICE-based automotive business. So, more Vinfasts and TOGGs could emerge.

Easter Egg Bonus 2

Looking at the segment leaders this month, one thing struck me — the pickup truck market had a new leader in March. It wasn’t the one leading sales in 2025. It also wasn’t the one that won last year’s trophy.

No, in March 2025, the best selling plugin pickup truck in the world was … the BYD Shark.

With 3,178 units in March, BYD’s new model beat the 2025 leader, the Ford F-150 Lightning (2,286 units in March), which is still leading in the YTD numbers with 8,276 units. Last year’s leader, the Tesla Cybertruck, with around 6,300 units sold this year so far — let’s just say … it is below expectations.

The same cannot be said about the BYD Shark, which is still being launched in a number of markets. The bulk of its March volumes come from only one market (Australia — 2,810 units), so there is still a lot of margin for the plugin hybrid pickup to grow.

We will keep you posted throughout the year on this particular race.