According to DIGITIMES' observations, the global automotive market in 2025 saw only modest growth amid tariff pressures and a high-interest-rate environment. Nevertheless, electric vehicles (EVs) continued to maintain strong momentum, with full-year sales reaching 20.985 million units, outperforming expectations, driven primarily by rising demand in Chinese and European markets.
Looking ahead to 2026, global automotive market demand is expected to grow marginally, while the EV sector will enter a phase of slower expansion, with an annual growth rate of 15.2%. As subsidies are phased out and policy frameworks are adjusted across major global automotive markets, growth momentum in the three leading markets—China, Europe, and the US—is expected to moderate, giving rise to a new landscape characterized by "slowing growth alongside increasing regional divergence."
In 2025, the global automotive market exhibited a pattern of slow growth, with annual sales reaching 91.4 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of only 1.7%. This was primarily due to the impact of tariff wars and elevated interest rates, which dampened consumer willingness to purchase vehicles.
