Unchallenged': The World's Best-Selling EVs Are Still American. But There's A Problem

"Chinese models dominate overall EV and PHEV sales, though, as they expand into Europe and South America. The Geely Genome Xingyuan is a burgeoning rival to the BYD Seagull. Tesla's electric vehicle market share in the U.S. nearly halved in the third quarter of this year (32%) from its peak (62.8%) in 2020. But despite the tumult at the company amid its pivot to robotics and AI, its two mass-market EVs are still global favorites."

"The world's top two best-selling EVs in the first nine months of 2025 were still the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, market research firm Autovista24 said in a new report citing EV Volumes data. The other eight in the top ten best-selling EVs list were all Chinese models. The country's plug-in hybrids are in a different league, with no Western model making the top ten PHEV list."

Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 remained the world's top two battery-electric vehicles through January–September 2025. The Model Y sold 808,173 units globally in that period, including roughly 145,000 in September alone, likely boosted by the $7,500 U.S. federal credit ending at month-end. Chinese manufacturers claimed the other eight spots in the BEV top ten and completely dominated the PHEV top ten, with BYD models occupying many rankings. The Geely Genome Xingyuan emerged as a growing rival to the BYD Seagull. Tesla's U.S. EV market share fell to about 32% in Q3 2025 from 62.8% in 2020.

Read at insideevs.com