Worldwide EV deliveries soared to record 2.1 million units in September, 62% made in China
Worldwide September deliveries of EVs – including battery-only and hybrid models – jump 24 per cent from a year earlier
Daniel Renin Shanghai
Published: 7:53pm, 15 Oct 2025Updated: 9:00pm, 15 Oct 2025
Global electric vehicle (EV) sales hit a record last month, buoyed by Chinese consumers’ growing interest in new models and the rising popularity of battery-powered cars in Europe.
Worldwide September deliveries of pure-electric cars and plug-in hybrids jumped 24 per cent from a year earlier to 2.1 million units – breaking 2 million for the first time and topping the previous record of 1.9 million in December, according to London-based consultancy Rho Motion. The figure represented 20 per cent growth from August.
Just a day earlier, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) unveiled rosy data reflecting upwards momentum for mainland China, the world’s largest EV market. The country’s 50 or so EV makers achieved record deliveries of 826,000 pure-electric cars last month, 28.5 per cent more than a year earlier.
Adding in hybrid vehicles, China reported a total of 1.3 million EV deliveries last month, which represented 15.5 per cent growth from a year earlier and 62 per cent of the global total.
“China’s dominance in the EV sector has helped the country’s automotive industry increase its share of the global market,” said Cui Dongshu, general secretary of the CPCA, a government-backed industry consortium. “In the field of new-energy vehicles, Chinese companies are increasingly wielding their influence globally.”
Top EV makers like BYD, the world’s largest electric-car builder, are also improving logistics and launching more new models in overseas markets to challenge international marques like Volkswagen and Toyota.
BYD expected exports to make up about 20 per cent of its global sales this year, compared with less than 10 per cent in 2024, said Li Yunfei, the company’s general manager of branding and public relations, in an interview last month.
Daniel Ren
Daniel Ren is the SCMP's Shanghai bureau chief. A Shanghai native, Daniel joined the SCMP in 2007 as a Business reporter.
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