50% Rise in Volkswagen Electric Vehicle Orders in Europe in 2026

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There’s been so much focus on Volkswagen’s drastic plans to close factories and lay off employees, and rightfully so, but that overshadowed some actually pretty cool, uplifting news from the company.

In a company report on its first-half-of-year sales, the group’s 4.1 million sales were not a bright spot overall (down 6% year over year), but the company was was happy to point out a big win right in the headline: “Order book for all-electric vehicles in Europe rises by more than 50 percent.”

Whoa. That’s a great stat, a big increase in EV orders on its home continent. Also important to note: the company leadership was surprised by how much demand for EVs it’s seeing. (Doesn’t that still say a lot?)

“The Volkswagen Group grew by around two percent overall in the first half of the year outside of China. We continued to gain ground, particularly in South America and Europe. It is especially pleasing to note that in our home region, the Electric Urban Car Family — launched just a few weeks ago — is being very well received by our customers,” Marco Schubert, Member of the Group’s Extended Executive Committee for Sales, said.

“We have already taken more than 54,000 orders for these attractive entry-level vehicles from VW, Škoda, and CUPRA, even though only three of the four models are currently available. This is well above our expectations. The order book for all-electric vehicles in Europe has risen by more than 50 percent overall compared to the end of last year. The situation in China remains challenging, where we were unable to escape a significant total market decline of around 20 percent — despite initial positive momentum from our newly introduced, locally developed electric vehicles. Globally, we are seeing a decline in deliveries of around six percent.”

Two things: “well above our expectations.” Wow. Still not enough faith in EVs. And I get it, the US war on Iran has stimulated a lot of EV sales, especially in that segment. But it’s still disappointing that the company is underestimating demand for good EVs. And that brings us to the second matter: China. Simply put, Chinese EV companies are innovating too fast for Western companies, and Chinese buyers seem to have shifted in thinking they should buy legacy auto brands from the West to understanding that Chinese brands are now more advanced, quicker to bring out new tech, and better overall value for money. I don’t see Chinese buyers returning to paying a premium for an out-of-date Western brand in the auto world.

Also of note is that shifts in the US really hurt Volkswagen Group’s EV business there. So, despite doing well in Europe, the company’s EV sales were down globally from the US and Chinese struggles. “The Volkswagen Group remains the clear BEV market leader in Europe and continues on a growth trajectory (+8 percent); BEV share in Western Europe rises from 20 to 21 percent; in China, despite a significant decline, the first signs of positive momentum from the new, locally developed electric models can be seen in Q2; BEV total market in the U.S. declines significantly in the first half of the year following the expiration of government subsidy programs, including the impact of increased tariffs, BEV deliveries there fell by 69 percent,” the company writes, and here’s the broad takeaway on its EV business as a result:

Back on the bright side, here are more details on the huge uptrend in EV orders in Europe:

“BEV order intake in Europe rises by more than 50 percent in Q2 compared to the same period last year; in particular, the recently launched Electric Urban Car Family — featuring the VW ID. Polo, Škoda Epiq and CUPRA Raval — is being very well received by customers, with more than 54,000 orders; order intake across all powertrains rises by 4 percent, order bank increases by about 12 percent compared to the end of 2025, BEV share of the order bank exceeds 30 percent.”

Nice. Volkswagen Group getting up to 30% of orders being BEVs in Europe. That’s not close to the 50%+ many of us would like to see, but it’s progress.

The company also noted that its extended-range electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are also seeing order increases: “Demand for vehicles with modern second-generation plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains and range extender (EREV) powertrains is rising; the first EREV model ID. ERA 9X⁰⁴ has already seen more than 10,000 deliveries in China.”

So, all is not rotten in Wolfsburg.

To wrap up, here were Volkswagen Group’s 10 best selling BEVs in the first half of 2026:

1. Škoda Elroq — 59,900
2. Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 — 53,700
3. Škoda Enyaq (including Coupé) — 48,300
4. Volkswagen ID.3 — 44,400
5. Audi Q4 e-tron (SUV/Sportback) — 33,800
6. Audi Q6 e-tron (SUV/Sportback) — 31,900
7. Volkswagen ID.7 (including Tourer) — 29,500
8. Volkswagen ID. Buzz (including Cargo) — 27,200
9. CUPRA Born — 20,800
10. Audi A6 e-tron (Avant/Sportback) — 18,400