Camilla Jessen
Sales slide exposes challenges for Volvo EVs.
In China, Volvo’s electric car sales fell by 44 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, according to figures released by the company.
The decline was not limited to niche models such as the China-only EM90, but affected the brand’s wider electric lineup.
The drop is particularly damaging in a market that has been central to Volvo’s electrification ambitions. It also comes as the company continues to argue publicly in favor of Europe maintaining a ban on new combustion-engine cars.
Europe sees smaller fall
Conditions in Europe were less severe but still negative.
Volvo reported a 22 percent drop in electric car sales across the region compared with 2024.
In its statement, the company blamed the decline on rising tariff barriers and the withdrawal of state subsidies for electric vehicles in several markets. These factors, Volvo said, had made electric cars less attractive to buyers during 2025.
Despite the smaller decline compared with China, Europe remains a critical market where Volvo’s electric ambitions have yet to translate into consistent growth.
US growth from low base
In the United States, Volvo reported a 91 percent increase in electric car sales.
However, the company acknowledged that this growth followed extremely low volumes in 2024, when it sold just 791 fully electric vehicles.
As a result, the sharp percentage increase masks the fact that electric cars still represent a very small part of Volvo’s overall US business.
Sources: Volvo sales figures, company statements
