Global electric vehicle deliveries fell 7.6% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, a decline driven almost entirely by a slump in China, the world’s largest EV market. Combined sales of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) struggled in January, suffered in February, and stagnated in March, according to data from EV Volumes analyzed by reporters.
Of the 3,894,666 EVs delivered worldwide, 69.3% were fully electric, up 4.2 percentage points from the same period in 2025. This shift reflected the global BEV market’s higher volume of 2,697,413 units and a more marginal decline of 1.6%.
China and the US drag down global BEV numbers
China and the US remained the world’s largest and second-largest BEV markets, respectively. Both recorded double-digit year-on-year declines. The former suffered a 23.6% fall, resulting in 361,855 fewer sales. That drop eclipsed the US, where 202,509 BEVs were delivered, down 25.7%.
China’s importance to the global BEV and PHEV markets is well established. It accounted for 43.5% of all-electric deliveries worldwide, far ahead of the US at 7.5%. Germany followed at 5.9%, the UK at 5.1%, and France at 4.3%.
However, the sheer size of the Chinese BEV market means any poor result has a large knock-on effect. Following a 20.4% delivery decline in January and a 39.2% drop in February, March’s 15.6% slide was something of a relief.
The US followed a similar pattern of easing decline into March.
Related: Carmakers Achieve Triple-Digit Growth in EU New Car Market
Germany, the UK, and France recorded accelerating growth, but their comparatively smaller volumes did little to stop the global BEV market’s descent.
PHEV sales cratered as China’s grip tightened
The same trend repeated itself in the global PHEV market to an even greater extent. PHEV sales fell 18.7% to 1,197,253 units. The effect of struggling sales in China was even more apparent, as the country accounted for 52.9% of all deliveries. It saw PHEV sales drop 36.4% year on year. Meanwhile, other leading markets — including the UK, Germany, and Italy — recorded growth. But those three countries made up just 6.7%, 6.3%, and 3.4% of all PHEV sales, respectively.
This meant the positive results in these markets paled compared to the negative results in China. Additionally, the US recorded a decline in PHEV sales, reaching just 38,953 units, or 3.3% of all volumes.
BYD’s dominance slips, but it still leads the EV pack
BYD led the global EV market across the first quarter of 2026. However, its position of dominance appeared to be slipping. Its sales fell 33.7% to 562,597 units, and its EV market share slipped 5.7 percentage points to 14.4%. The brand’s performance in China drove this decline, where its sales fell 56.2%. More than half of all BYD’s new EVs were sold domestically, far ahead of its second-biggest market, Brazil, with a 6.7% share.
The carmaker has been making a concerted effort to export more models, decreasing dependence on domestic performance. This was reflected regionally: China was responsible for 82.1% of its EV sales in the first quarter of 2025. Export markets, including Brazil, the UK, Australia, and Thailand, made up more of the brand’s figures in 2026. With a large lineup across different powertrains, BYD led the best-selling PHEV table with the BYD Song Pro, selling 43,869 units, or 3.7% of all plug-in hybrids delivered.
It placed three other models in the top 10: the BYD Song Plus (also known as the Seal U in some markets) in third with 41,446 units, and the Qin Plus and Seal 6 in sixth and seventh, respectively. All these top-performing BYD PHEVs saw sales shrink in the first quarter, with declines steeper than 30%. The remaining six spots in the PHEV top 10 were taken by Chinese models, including the Fang Cheng Bao Tai 7, Jaecoo J7, and Aito M7.
Tesla takes the top two BEV spots
While the top 10 BEV table was not short on Chinese models either, Tesla took the top two positions. The Tesla Model Y came first with 240,400 sales, up 19.2%, capturing an 8.9% market share. Unlike BYD, the company has a far smaller product range. The Model Y made up 67.2% of its sales, up from 60% in the first quarter of 2025. The Tesla Model 3 was the world’s second-most popular BEV with 101,405 units, down 16.8% year on year.
Related: The Best Automotive News Solutions for 2026: Navigating the Future of Mobility
Like BYD, Tesla saw its sales fall in China, with volumes down 16.3% to 112,910 units. However, it only sells BEV models, which meant less exposure to China’s struggling PHEV market. In total, 31.6% of Tesla models were sold in China during the first quarter, down from 40.1% a year earlier. With a more even sales spread, the brand saw 29.4% of its BEVs delivered in the US, down only 3.6 percentage points as sales fell 5.3% to 105,050 units.
Tesla did see a 335.1% increase in sales in South Korea, with 20,964 units delivered. That meant 5.9% of all its models were sold there during the quarter, up 4.4 percentage points year on year.
The Xiaomi YU7 took third in the global BEV rankings with 71,942 sales and a 2.7% market share. The Geely Geome Xingyuan (also known as the EX2) took fifth, followed by the Li Auto I6 in sixth. The Nio ES8 claimed ninth, and the Toyota bZ4x came 10th.
Volkswagen, BMW, and others quietly move up
Not all the world’s biggest EV sellers made the top 10 BEV or PHEV model tables. BMW took fourth in the brand ranking with 110,103 sales, and Leapmotor came fifth with 103,436 units. Kia placed eighth with 85,086 models moved, while Mercedes-Benz was 10th with 79,494 deliveries.
Ahead of all of them was Volkswagen in third. Its top-selling ID.4, ID.3, and ID.7 BEVs all recorded delivery declines of 32.9%, 30.4%, and 18.9%, respectively. However, its plug-in hybrids picked up the pace. PHEV versions of the Golf, Tayron, and Multivan all saw surging volumes. Unlike BYD and Tesla, China was not VW’s leading market. Instead, it pushed the most EVs domestically, with 33.4% of its plug-in sales taking place in Germany. Then came the UK at 12.1%. Yet VW’s EV sales in China did decline by 62.9% year on year, and the market accounted for just 7.8% of its plug-in deliveries, down from 17.8%.
This highlights the weight of the Chinese market on global EV sales figures and the brands looking to move models. But as the region sees more carmakers exporting, other countries will see greater model diversity and increased competition — a shift that may reshape the numbers in coming quarters.