Volkswagen overtook Tesla as Europe's top EV seller in 2025

I think they may catch up quite quickly. In Ireland, I'm suddenly seeing huge numbers of bZ4X, particularly as taxis; Toyota has a tremendous amount of brand loyalty, and I'm fairly sure that there are a lot of people who were waiting to buy an electric car until they could buy a _Toyota_ electric car.

ablation2• 6 months ago

The Skoda Enyaq (VRS model specifically) is the best EV I've driven/travelled in by quite some margin. Exceptionally good. I mention it because VAG group.

tasuki• 6 months ago

In what way is Škoda Enyaq the best?

ablation2• 5 months ago

By nearly every subjective measure I can think of: comfort, cabin finish, general external aesthetics, performance, driving enjoyment, infotainment, range, etc. Your mileage may vary, of course. Pun somewhat intended.

omnimus2• 6 months ago

The whole story of Skoda is interesting because they were bought by Volkswagen as "budget" brand but kept their own development department. They get consistently pushed down as the cars shouldn't compete with VW but they do. It's not surprising they were able to adjust to EVs better than VW. If anything VW should learn something from their own Skoda but from what i've heard the VW deparments got very comfy and quite old (not in a good way).

andsoitis4• 6 months ago

Tesla has largely accomplished its original mission of “accelerating the world to sustainable energy”.

Tesla forced the entire industry to accelerate to EV. Toyota could have been that pioneer and mover.

Earlier this year Tesla adjusted their mission to push for “a world of amazing abundance” based on renewable energy, autonomous driving, robotics, and AI.

https://www.tesla.com/about

hshdhdhj4444• 6 months ago

Tesla deserves credit but it’s not Tesla that accelerated the world. It’s China.

Even today Ford’s CEO talks about Chinese cars when discussing what they’re worried about, not Tesla.

And then there’s also the battery cost revolution which is again being driven by Chinese companies, whereas Tesla’s in house design has largely failed.

andsoitis4• 6 months ago

Tesla defined the modern EV market through Silicon Valley innovation, while Chinese companies like BYD focused on vertical integration and affordability, eventually overtaking Tesla in sales in 2025 (both started operations around 2003).

Tesla’s entry into the Chinese market via the Shanghai Gigafactory (2019) acted as a "catfish," forcing local Chinese "new forces" like NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto to lower prices and accelerate technological innovation.

plqbfbv• 6 months ago

Tesla deserves credit but it’s not Tesla that accelerated the world. It’s China.

China supplied the batteries, sure.

But there's definitely a pre-Tesla and post-Tesla world regarding the vehicles themselves. Tesla changed the image of EVs available to the general public by making performant and low maintenance vehicles that looked futuristic and were capable of things basically only supercars could, for a fraction of the price. And they built the DC charging infrastructure all over the world to support long-range trips, which was non-existent before Tesla. EVs before Teslas were basically niche experiments.

rsynnott6• 6 months ago

... I mean Tesla's first real production electric car (Model S) came out after the Leaf, and only a few months before VW AG's first production electric cars (VW had previously occasionally put out an electric version of the Golf on a small-scale basis, going back to _1992_, but those don't count, any more than the Tesla Roadster does). What _really_ happened is that, circa 2010, the economics started working; lithium ion batteries got into the cost range where it could work.

EVs were inevitable, and the timing was largely dictated by battery pricing.

andsoitis4• 6 months ago

Leaf and VW's electric offerings didn't capture the mind of people that EVs are good options.

Tesla made long-distance driving in EVs possible. Tesla made EV sexy, desirable. It catalyzed the Chinese EV industry. Neither Nissan nor VW remotely accomplished those things.

Like someone else said, people think in terms of a pre-Tesla and post-Tesla world. I don't know that there's a strong case against that framing.

rsynnott6• 6 months ago

Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), opens new tab overtook Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab in sales of fully-electric cars in Europe in 2025

This is pretty nonsensical. The VW _brand_ overtook Tesla in EV sales. However, VW AG (ie the VOWG.DE referenced above), has been outselling Tesla since about 2020. Audi and Seat and so forth are not independent companies in any meaningful way and their cars are for practical purposes the same as those sold under the VW brand.

segmondy• 6 months ago

It's already difficult getting your Tesla repaired, it's going to be a nightmare when Melon pivots away completely from EV which he will once it's obvious that he's getting crushed all around, not just in sales but design, functionality, etc.

tomashm• 6 months ago

I’m in Europe and on my fourth Tesla, but it’ll be my last. No more of my money is going Musk’s way.

Volkswagen overtook Tesla as Europe's top EV seller in 2025

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