EVs outsold gas and diesel cars in Europe's biggest car market for the first time in history after major shift

EVs are finally becoming popular in Germany, Europe’s largest market.

A few brands are still struggling, but pure internal combustion cars (not including hybrids) are now losing to electric cars.

This may have been a one-off, or proof that the trend is shifting – time will tell.

But a couple of things still stand out.

We’ve gone full circle

We sometimes forget that the electric car boom was one of the consequences of Dieselgate.

What followed was the quick and harsh demonization of the diesel engine, and then more broadly of the internal combustion engine.

All of a sudden, diesel, which for years had been praised as the be-all and end-all of ‘green’ motoring, was the enemy.

But German brands, not just VW, were a bit hesitant to join the bandwagon and that’s part of the reason why first Tesla and then Chinese brands took control of the EV market.

After a few commercially unsuccessful attempts, German manufacturers began finding their footing, and now we’re seeing the result.

In June 2026, more EVs were sold in Germany than internal combustion cars

In spite of everything, Germany is still the largest market in Europe, and also arguably the most important because it is still home to the most manufacturers on the continent.

While the best-selling car in absolute terms (VW Golf) wasn’t electric, EVs dominated the market in June 2026.

And several cars on the list were German.

Škoda, owned by VW Group, performed surprisingly well with two cars in the top 5 of best-selling EVs.

While this is certainly good news for German brands, two things stand out.

First, the big three – Audi, Mercedes, BMW – are still lagging behind.

The absence of BMW is perhaps easier to understand because they revamped their EV lineup with high-end models, but Audi and Mercedes are still in the trial-and-error phase, and as a result they’re still relying on gas cars.

The second thing is, the Model Y (6,023 units) nearly outsold the second and third car (3,514+3,383) combined.

Clearly, there’s still a long way to go.

Below: best-selling EVs in Germany in June 2026, per ADAC (largest automobile association in Europe)