According to research firm Rho Motion, global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increased 18% year over year in January, with growth in the US and Europe surpassing China for the first time since February of last year.
With the implementation of CO2 emission goals in the European Union, the European auto market got off to a solid start this year. However, Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said that the country’s sales fell 43% month over month due to the Chinese New Year holidays.
While trade tensions and weakening auto markets portend plant closures and millions of job losses, governments around the world are implementing various strategies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles.
As part of a broader consumer trade-in program, China extended its auto trade-in subsidies into 2025 in January in an effort to boost economic growth and prevent a slowdown in EV sales.
In the same month, Europe began additional talks with auto industry executives, unions, and interest groups regarding CO2 emission targets.
According to Rho Motion statistics, sales of plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars (PHEVs) increased 17.7% year over year to 1.3 million in January, marking the third straight month of declining growth.
Sales in China reached 0.7 million automobiles during the month, an 11.8% year-over-year increase. Sales of 0.25 million were reported in Europe, a 21% increase over the same month in 2024.
The implementation of a weight tax on PHEVs caused France, one of the continent’s major markets, to decline by 52%, while Germany saw a rise of more than 40%, in part because of low numbers in January 2024 when EV subsidies were abruptly discontinued, according to Rho Motion.
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