On the Dash:
- Global EV sales rose 8% to 2.09 million units in October.
- Europe grew 36% while China fell 12%, with record Chinese exports lifting other markets.
- North America rose 24%, but Benchmark says the US has only stabilized at a lower level.
Global electric vehicle sales are growing again, though the details matter a lot more for U.S. dealers than the headline number does. Buyers around the world picked up 2.09 million battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in October, an 8% jump from a year earlier, according to data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
Year-to-date volume now sits at 17.5 million units, up 5% from the same period in 2025, even though October slipped 3% from September. Europe did most of the heavy lifting, China’s domestic market kept shrinking, and the U.S. rebound looks much smaller once you factor in how weak last October was.
European EV sales grow 36%
Europe sold 510,000 EVs in October, up 36% from a year ago and ahead of the 31% pace it has kept so far this year. Battery-electric sales jumped 49% and plug-in hybrids rose 7%, and Benchmark pointed to subsidies, rising fuel prices, EU emissions rules and a growing list of available models as the reasons.
Sales in the region did fall 17% from September, which was an all-time high that got a boost from the UK’s September registration plate change. That makes the monthly dip easy to explain, and the annual growth rate kept building anyway.
China’s domestic market fell 12% from a year ago, though the decline narrowed as manufacturers leaned on overseas sales. China is still the largest single EV market in the world, so even a shrinking home market moves the global totals.
Rest of world outpaces North America on Chinese exports
Markets outside China, Europe and North America grew 85% to 300,000 units in October, which put them ahead of North America’s total. That group is now up 93% year to date.
Australia stands out, with EV sales up more than 200% from a year earlier as new brands, many of them Chinese, flood the market. Benchmark said that surge is squeezing dealer margins there.
Lester told Reuters that weaker demand inside China has pushed automakers to export more, and those shipments are contributing significantly to growth elsewhere. Passenger car NEV exports from China reached almost 600,000 units in October, another monthly record.
US growth leans on an easy comparison
North American EV sales rose 24% in October, the region’s first year-over-year increase of 2026, with US sales reaching around 110,000 units. October was also the first month measured against a year-earlier period without the federal EV tax credit, which made for a low bar to clear.
Benchmark credited the return to growth more to that easier comparison base than to a recovery in demand. Benchmark Data Manager Charles Lester said the US market has stabilized at a lower sales level without fully rebounding, and cautioned that the picture isn’t entirely positive. North America had been the weakest region for much of 2026, and Benchmark’s earlier reports showed a sharp decline there in September. The October gain looks like a turn on paper, even if volumes remain modest.
