North America, also weighed by slowing sales in Canada, lagged for the first time behind the "rest of the world" countries, which include emerging markets in Southeast Asia and South and Central America, Lester said.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Global automakers face a 25% import tariff in the United States, the world's second-largest car market, causing many of them to withdraw their outlooks for 2025.
In Europe, incentives for retail and fleet buyers in key markets such as Germany and Spain, alongside a growing availability of cheap EVs, are expected to support electric car sales through the second half of the year.
While some of the most successful EVs in the small vehicle segment are produced by European carmakers such as Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) and Renault (RENA.PA), those by Chinese brands including BYD (002594.SZ) are taking up market share in the continent and driving growth in emerging markets, Lester said
