Volkswagen Group models dominated Germany’s electric car sales, taking eight of the top ten best-selling EVs in the first half of the year.
Volkswagen drives Germany’s EV sales growth in H1 2025
Germany’s electric car sales rose 35% in the first half of 2025 with nearly 249,155 units sold, marking a new record.
That’s a stark difference from the first half of 2024, after EV sales fell 16% year-over-year (YOY) after Germany ended its EV subsidy program in 2023.
Even without incentives, electric car sales outpaced the overall market in Germany. Europe’s largest auto market fell 5% with 1,402,789 vehicles sold in the first half of the year. Germany is launching new incentives for EVs starting as early as this month.
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According to market researcher Dataforce (via Automotive News), Volkswagen Group dominated Germany’s EV sales, accounting for eight of the top ten best-selling EVs in the first half of 2025.
Volkswagen ID.7 Pro S (Source: Volkswagen)
The Volkswagen ID.7 surprisingly took the top spot, selling 18,017 units. VW cancelled plans to launch the ID.7 in the US earlier this year, citing “a challenging EV climate.”
The Tesla Model Y and BMW iX1 were the only non-VW Group models to crack the top 10. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also saw higher demand, with sales rising 56% to 138,633.
Volkswagen ID.4 (Source: Volkswagen)
Volkswagen’s Tiguan was the best-selling PHEV with 7,563 units sold, followed by the Cupra Formentor (6,343) and Volvo XC60.
Renault led the growth with sales up 7.9%, followed by Skoda (4.6%), BMW brand (+4.1%), and Ford (+3.7%). Volkswagen Brand sales fell 1.2%, while Mercedes (+0.2%) and Volvo (+0.4%) were about flat. Tesla, on the other hand, saw its sales drop 58% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period the previous year.
Volkswagen ID.3 GTX (Source: Volkswagen)
In the overall European market, Volkswagen had the most EV registrations in the first half of the year at over 135,000, followed by Tesla (109,262), and BMW (94,658).
The Tesla Model Y was the most registered EV in Europe in H1, followed by the VW ID.4, Tesla Model 3, VW ID.7, and VW ID.3.
Despite the success in its home market, Volkswagen is struggling to overcome the blow from the Trump Administration’s US auto tariffs.
Volkswagen said the tariffs cost it an additional 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in H1 2025 after operating profits plunged 33% to 6.7 billion euros ($7.9 billion).
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Picture taken on September 4, 2023 shows windmills at the Nysted Offshore Wind Farm constructed by Danish windpower giant Orsted in 2002-2003 in the Baltic Sea near Gedser in Denmark.
Thomas Traasdahl | Afp | Getty Images
Norwegian oil giant Equinor on Monday pledged to support Denmark’s Orsted with almost $1 billion of fresh capital, backing the beleaguered company amid sustained attacks on offshore wind projects from the Trump administration.
In an apparent show of confidence in the world’s largest offshore wind developer, Equinor signaled its intention to participate in Orsted’s planned 60 billion Danish krone ($9.4 billion) rights issue and said it intended to hold on to its 10% ownership in the company.
Equinor said its strategic support of the rights issue reflects its confidence in Orsted’s underlying business and the competitiveness of offshore wind in the future energy mix. The state-backed Norwegian energy group is the second largest shareholder in Orsted, behind the Danish government.
As part of the move, Equinor said it would nominate a candidate to Orsted’s board of directors.
Shares of Orsted rose 3.6% on the news, before paring gains. The stock price, which is down nearly 90% from a 2021, peak notched a fresh record low last month after the Trump administration ordered the company to halt work on a near complete windfarm.
Equinor shares were last seen 0.2% higher on Monday morning.
Both companies have been navigating challenges around the offshore wind industry, with Equinor saying it is closely monitoring developments in the U.S., and that it intends to remain in dialogue with Orsted.
The wind industry has been a target for U.S. President Donald Trump since his first day in office. The latest blow came on Friday when the U.S. Department of Transportation canceled $679 millionin federal funding for a dozen infrastructure projects that would support offshore wind power nationwide.
“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said Equinor’s move to support Orsted could be seen as a first step for the company considering the possibility of a potential merger between the two offshore wind portfolios.
“The challenge with participating fully is that the company will effectively increase its net exposure to two 100%-owned US offshore wind projects, neither of which look likely to be farmed down in the near term, and where political support remains uncertain,” analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a research note.
“The incremental positive is that alongside its maintained shareholding, Equinor will now be having board representation, making the most of a challenging situation,” they added.
Spokespeople for Equinor and Orsted did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball & Ganesh Rao contributed to this report.
Japanese equipment giant Komatsu has added a not-so-giant electric excavator to its growing lineup of battery-powered construction equipment. The new Komatsu PC20E-6 electric mini excavator promises a full day of work from a single charge.
Komatsu says the design of its latest mini excavator was informed by data sourced from more than 40,000 working days of comparably-sized diesel excavators. The company found that, in 90% of its global customers’ mini excavator deployments, these vehicles are in active use for less than 3.5 hours per day.
“This defined the target for the required, reliable working time with the excavator,” reads the Komatsu web copy. “This result makes it possible for Komatsu to offer an attractively priced machine with a performance that exactly matches the requirements.”
Keeping costs down are relatively conservative specs. Komatsu chose to power the PC20E-6 with a 23.2 kWh battery pack sending electrons to an 11 kW (~15 hp), high-torque electric motors. Not exactly super impressive on paper, but the machine has an operating weight of 2,190 kg and enough juice for up to four (4) hours of continuous operation.
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More than enough, in other words, to have completed 90% of of those 40,000 work days the company analyzed.
Getting it done
PC20E-6 electric mini excavator; via Komatsu.
If, for some reason, that four hours’ runtime isn’t enough, an on-board charging option for 230V and 3kW charging power compatible with various plug adapters is standard, with an external DC quick charger for 400V and 12 kW charging as optional. In either case, it won’t be long before the machine is back at work.
To help the later adopters sleep well about their battery-powered investments, the PC20E-6 ships with Komatsu’s E-Support maintenance program, which includes free scheduled maintenance by a Komatsu-trained technician, a 3 year/2,000 hour warranty on the machine, plus a 5 year/10,000 hour warranty on the electric driveline. The company says the battery should last 10 years.
“The Komatsu E-Support customer program is included free of charge with every market-ready electric mini excavator and offers exclusive machine support,” said Emanuele Viel, Group Manager Utility at Komatsu Europe. “The bottom line is that the risk for the end customer is significantly reduced, especially when it comes to exploring the electrification advances in the industry.”
Komatsu hasn’t released official pricing quite yet, but has revealed that the P20E-6 will begin series production this October.
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Tesla has unexpectedly terminated a contractor’s contract at Gigafactory Texas, resulting in the layoff of 82 workers who were supporting the automaker’s production at the giant factory in Austin.
MPW Industrial Services Inc., an Ohio-based industrial service provider specializing in cleaning and facility management, has issued a new WARN notice, confirming that it will lay off 82 workers in Texas due to Tesla unexpectedly ending its contract with the company.
Here are the details from the WARN notice:
State / agency: Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
Notice date: August 27, 2025.
Employees affected: 82
Likely effective date: September 1, 2025
Context from the filing/letter: layoffs tied to an unexpected termination of a major customer contract (Tesla—Gigafactory Texas, 1 Tesla Road); positions include 61 technicians, 7 team leads, 7 supervisors, 7 managers; no bumping rights; workers not union-represented.
In April 2024, Tesla initiated waves of layoffs at the plant, resulting in the dismissal of more than 2,000 employees in Austin, Texas.
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Since then, Tesla’s sales have been in a steady decline. While the automaker is expected to have a strong quarter in the US in Q3 due to the end of the tax credit, sales are expected to decline further in Q4 and the first half of 2026.
Many industry watchers have expected Tesla to initiate further layoffs due to the situation.
Electrek’s Take
We may be seeing the beginnings of a new wave of layoffs at Tesla, as the automaker typically starts with contractors.
To be fair, Tesla could also potentially end the contract unexpectedly for other reasons, but the timing does align with the need to cut costs and staff ahead of an inevitable downturn in US EV sales.
I think it’s inevitable that we start seeing some layoffs. I think Tesla will have to slow down production in the US to avoid creating an oversupply, especially in Q4-Q1.
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