Global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose 29% year-on-year in March, helped by growth in China and Europe, while EV growth in North America was hampered by US President Donald Trump’s stance towards emissions standards and uncertainties around tariffs, data showed on Tuesday.

US tariffs on car imports may force some of the country’s automakers which produce in neighbouring Mexico to readjust prices, or move their production, Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said. About 39% of EVs sold in the US are imported, and around a quarter of locally made EVs use imported batteries, he added.

Chinese counter-tariffs, meanwhile, could affect Tesla’s US-made models, leading to an almost doubling in prices of its Model S and Model X cars sold in China, Lester said.

The latest figure is in line with growth in previous months, contributing to a 29% sales increase in the first quarter.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

The US began collecting tariffs of 25% on foreign auto imports from April 3, which President Donald Trump says will boost US manufacturing and jobs.

Experts have warned that the tariffs will shake up global supply chains and lead to rising prices and lower sales in the country.

Faced with trade disruptions, the European Union agreed last week to look into a relaxation of tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, aiming to set minimum prices for those cars instead.

BY THE NUMBERS

Global sales of battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) rose to 1.7 million in March, the Rho Motion data showed.

Sales in China were up 36% from the same month of 2024 to almost 1 million vehicles.

Europe reported a 24% year-on-year increase in registrations to 0.4 million cars sold, as emission targets and regulations helped BEV sales in some of the continent’s main car markets - Germany, Italy and Britain, Lester said.

In the United States and Canada, EV sales rose 12% to 0.2 million in March.

In the rest of the world, March sales rose by 13%.

KEY QUOTES

A proposed relaxation of the EU’s 2025 CO2 emissions targets “certainly gives the automakers in Europe some respite”, Lester said.

“A lot of the investment, a lot of the planned model releases are still in place. It just helps the automakers financially”, he said.

CONTEXT

Governments worldwide are adopting policies to encourage EV adoption, while trade tensions and slowing car markets could foreshadow plant closures and thousands of job losses.

China extended its auto trade-in subsidies into 2025 as part of an expanded consumer trade-in scheme in January, to avert a slowdown in EV sales while reviving economic growth.