Good news for Chinese technology company XPENG as they announce their rising sales in France where French auto manufacturers are feeling the sales pinch from this electric car manufacturer from China.

It seems that in December 2025, XPENG G6 could make the cliam of being the NO.1 BEV seller in France amongst all Chinese brands with 499 units sold and delivered. Might not sound like a lot, but this is Europe and with strong European rivals with brand loyalty on their side, XPENG managed to get 499 customers in a country where Peugeot, Renault and Citroen have a strong presence.

The global EV market recorded 15,183,434 sales between January and September, according to the latest data from EV Volumes. This equated to a year-on-year increase of 30 percent. 

Meanwhile, preliminary data for 2025 is expected to confirm up by 4 percent year on year.

This was helped by a 23.2% uptick in September when 2,122,838 plug-in units were delivered. As a result, the market stabilised after February’s51.6% increase was followed by six months of shrinking sales growth.

The global electric vehicle (EV) share is forecast to reach 27.5 percent in 2026, 43.2 percent in 2030, 64.6 percent in 2035, and 83.2 percent in 2040. That said, budget pressures and policy shifts may threaten investment in incentives and charging infrastructure. Various legacy vehicle makers are reducing their EV targets. This has further weakened the outlook for EV adoption in Northern America.

The EV boom has continued in China, with the plug-in share rising from 13.9 percent in 2021 to 44.3 percent in 2024. The market’s strength is supported by favourable total cost of ownership and increasingly competitive pricing.

Given economic headwinds, the Chinese government has focused on boosting domestic consumption, with additional support directed toward state-owned OEMs. The economic situation appears positive, with the OECD upgrading the 2025 GDP growth outlook for China to 5 percent.

Vehicle demand also remains resilient. EV Volumes has slightly upgraded its 2025 light-vehicle sales forecast to 27.8 million units, up 7.1 percent year on year. A scrappage programme was extended beyond the original January 2025 deadline. However, it has been suspended in several cities, which could disproportionately reduce demand for EVs given their higher bonus levels.

Additionally, in October 2025, China ended its national EV subsidy programme, as reported by Reuters. It also excluded new-energy vehicles (NEVs) from the list of strategic emerging industries in its latest five-year development plan. This includes EVs, extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).