Europe beats China in EV sales as subsidies charge up field of play

Western Europe’s electric-vehicle sales pulled ahead of China’s last month after countries including Germany and France boosted government subsidies to stimulate demand that had been decimated by the pandemic.

The roughly 500,000 plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles registered in Europe during the first seven months of the year exceeded China’s sales by about 14,000 units, according to a report from Matthias Schmidt, an independent auto analyst in Berlin. In addition to helping automakers recover from the coronavirus, government incentives are assisting manufacturers’ efforts to meet tougher emissions standards.

Europe probably will exceed 1 million sales of plug-in hybrid and electric-vehicles this year, Schmidt said, as Tesla Inc. makes more cars available in the region and Volkswagen AG ramps up deliveries of its battery-powered ID.3.

While China’s auto market has been recovering, the government is reducing subsidies that have supported new-energy vehicle sales to encourage automakers to compete on their own.

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