World sales of cars are falling heavily due to two countries

O car market is falling this year and should continue. This is what suggests a report released this Thursday (30 July) by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

A entity explains that in the first half of this year car marketing fell five percent for the same period of 2025, mainly due to the fall in the two largest marketsChina and the United States.

The reason is economic pressures, in a context marked mainly by the impact of war in the Middle East (started february 28) high fuel prices and some changes in policies that affect the sector.

In China, for example, the year began with a decrease in the subsidy to buy the most affordable cars, recording a 30 percent fall in the car sales in the first semester “especially due to conventional vehicles”, you can read. The Chinese Passenger Car Association predicted in the middle of last month that sales in the country fall 14 percent against 2025. But some people make different estimates, between three and 20 percent.

As for the United States, by the end of june car sales dropped three percent by comparing with the homologous period of 2025 – the value of the fall is projected to remain at the end of the year.

The IEA also expects a recovery of sales in the second semester, but stay two percent below 2025 at the end of the year.

Electric cars do not escape the fall (because of China)

The decrease also affects electric cars (less than one percent), in this case with a strong impact of the 29 percent fall in China – despite increases in 90 countries, including many Europeans.

In total, electrics accounted for 24 percent of all enrollments worldwide in the period, more a percentage point than between January and June 2025. Only in the second quarter (between April and June) the number of electric cars worldwide increased by four percent for the same period of 2025 and in particular, they rose 35 percent against the first quarterwith over five million units sold.

Europe was the region in the world where there was the highest increase in sales of electric cars in the first semester, with an increase of 30 percent than in the first half of 2025. In Germany there were 140 thousand more electric vehicles than in the first half of 2025, in the United Kingdom another 100,000, in France another 95 thousand, in Italy another 75 thousand and in Spain another 40 thousand.

The crucial element in determining the overall pace of recovery throughout the year will again be the China, where a number of electric vehicles similar to that of 2025 are expected to be marketed this year and their share rises to more than 60 percent.

Another important factor is the 20 percent drop in car sales in China in the first half (less than 2.5 million registered vehicles) that led the country’s manufacturers to increase exports by 65 percent.

In the case of electrics, the impulse of Chinese vehicle exports was even greater, 120 percent, and represented more than 45 percent of the cars manufactured in China that were destined for external markets.