The Volkswagen Group delivered 240,200 battery-electric cars in the third quarter of 2026, 4.7% fewer than the 252,100 of a year earlier, according to the figures it published on 12 October. That is about half of Tesla's 486,532 deliveries in the same quarter.
The total hides two markets moving in opposite directions. In Europe, the group's electric deliveries rose 19.6% to 209,100, which is 87% of its electric total. In the United States they fell 86.4% to 5,100.
Electric deliveries by region
| Region | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change | Q1–Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | 209,100 | 174,800 | +19.6% | 586,100 | +12.1% |
| United States | 5,100 | 37,400 | −86.4% | 14,900 | −78.4% |
| China | 18,000 | 25,800 | −30.1% | 48,900 | −42.5% |
| Rest of the world | 8,100 | 14,100 | −43.0% | 28,800 | −30.0% |
| World | 240,200 | 252,100 | −4.7% | 678,700 | −5.4% |
Across all powertrains the group delivered 1,885,300 vehicles in the quarter, 14.3% fewer than a year earlier, and China alone accounts for about four-fifths of that fall. One in eight of the vehicles it delivered was fully electric (12.7%). In Europe, the battery-electric share of deliveries over the first nine months rose from 18% to 20%.
Europe: the order book is now 40% electric
The order figures are stronger than the delivery figures. VW says battery-electric order intake in Europe rose by more than 60% year on year in the third quarter. Its European order backlog for electric cars has doubled since the end of 2025, and electric models now make up about 40% of the whole European backlog. The four small electric cars built in Spain, the ID. Polo, ID. Cross, Škoda Epiq and Cupra Raval, have taken almost 150,000 orders so far. VW put all four on one stage in Paris on 11 October.
Martin Sander, the board member responsible for sales, named "the currently high fuel prices and the larger offering of entry-level models" as the main reasons for the faster shift to electric cars in Germany.
Škoda carried the growth
Inside the group, the growth came from the cheaper brands. Škoda's electric deliveries rose 30.0% to 59,300 in the quarter and Seat/Cupra's rose 25.5% to 24,800. The Volkswagen brand fell 22.4% to 73,900 and Audi fell 21.5% to 48,700. Over nine months the group's best-selling electric car was the Škoda Elroq with 92,200 deliveries, ahead of the ID.4/ID.5 with 81,900 and the Škoda Enyaq with 72,700.
These are the cars a European Model Y buyer is most likely to compare on price. In Germany in September, the KBA counted 8,038 Model Ys, 4,128 Elroqs, 2,852 Enyaqs and 2,795 ID.4/ID.5s.
Where Tesla stands
In Europe the two companies differ in scale and in pace. VW Group's European electric deliveries grew 12.1% in the first nine months of 2026, to 586,100. Tesla's registrations in the EU grew 65.9% in the first eight months, to 142,165, according to ACEA. The two counts do not cover the same countries or the same months, but VW's European electric volume is several times larger, and Tesla's is growing faster.
In the United States, VW says the electric market shrank after government incentive programmes expired, while import tariffs continue to weigh on its business. Its fall matches Ford's 80% drop in US electric sales in the same quarter. Tesla does not publish US deliveries separately, but its global deliveries fell only 2.1% year on year in the third quarter.