Latest research by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) showed a sharp rise in global sales of light-duty electric vehicles (EVs), which crossed 20 million units in 2025. The study noted that EVs accounted for nearly 25% of new light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales globally, up from around 19% in 2024 and 15% in 2023.
Nearly 90% of EVs sold worldwide were concentrated in the four largest LDV markets by sales volume — China, the United States, Europe, and India. Together, these four markets accounted for 71% of global LDV sales in 2025. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continued to dominate the global EV market, with 14 million units sold, accounting for 67% of all new EVs and 17% of all new LDVs sold in 2025. In India, EV sales jumped from approximately 125,000 units in 2024 to 202,000 units in 2025, accounting for 4% of new LDV sales.
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11 Emerging Markets Account For 5% Of Global EV Sales
Between 2020 and 2025, the study tracked EV sales growth across the four major markets and 11 selected emerging markets. In 2025, these 11 emerging markets collectively sold around 1 million EVs, accounting for nearly 5% of global EV sales, up from approximately 500,000 units in 2024 and just 16,000 units in 2020.
Vietnam recorded the highest EV sales share at 37%, significantly ahead of Europe (27%), the United States (9%), and India (4%). Thailand (24%), Türkiye (18%), Indonesia (16%), and Colombia (11%) also surpassed the United States and India in EV sales penetration.
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Shift Towards Battery Electric Vehicles
The study noted that BEVs remained the dominant EV technology globally in 2025, and the analysis primarily focused on BEV sales trends. Figure 3 of the report highlighted the 10 best-selling BEV models across the four major markets in 2025.
In ascending order of market concentration, the top 10 best-selling BEV models accounted for approximately 31% of all BEV sales in Europe, 33% in China, 64% in the United States, and 81% in India.
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India emerged as the most concentrated among the four major markets. MG led BEV sales ahead of domestic manufacturers such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, recording more than 60,000 sales from three BEV models featured in the top-10 list. These three models accounted for more than one-fourth of the country’s total BEV sales. Meanwhile, Tata Motors sold four of the 10 best-selling BEV models in India.
EV Production Remains Dominated By China
China retained its dominance in global EV production with an estimated 71% share, while Europe remained a distant second with a 17% share. India’s contribution remained below 1%.
The study also highlighted that the United States saw its EV production share decline from 7% in 2024 to 5% in 2025 due to lower EV production across both legacy and all-electric automakers. India’s share also remained below 1%. As in the previous year, China continued to remain a net EV exporter, while Europe, the United States and India.
China accounted for the largest share of EV imports across several regions, including India (87%), the selected emerging markets collectively (73%), and Europe (60%). The report noted that the high share of EV imports from China into emerging markets reflected consumer preference for more affordable EV models. In contrast, in the United States — where more than 40% of EVs sold were imported — around 43% of imports came from Europe, while 17% came from Japan.
In 2025, India sold approximately 202,000 EVs, up from about 125,000 units in 2024. EVs represented 4.1% of new LDV sales during the year. Figure 11 of the report highlighted EV market trends in India at the manufacturer level, showing that domestic automakers continued to lead EV sales, while newer manufacturers gained market share and expanded model availability. Meanwhile, several dominant legacy automakers remained largely absent from the EV market.
