Slovenia’s new car market grows fastest in over decade

New car sales in Slovenia rose by 8.5% in 2025, the highest growth rate in more than a decade, as sales of electric vehicles more than doubled to exceed ten percent of the market for the first time and Chinese car makers started making serious inroads, according to figures by the Chamber of Commerce (TZS).

Of the 57,557 new vehicles sold, pure electric vehicles accounted for 11% of the total, their number rising by 103% to 6,387, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The most popular pure electric vehicle models were the Tesla Y and 3, followed by Volkswagen's ID.7 and ID.4.

Sales of all types of electric vehicles, a category that includes pure EVs, plug-in hybrids and hybrids, rose by 64%. They now account for more than a quarter of all new vehicles sold.

Volkswagen remained the top car maker in the country, capturing 15% of the market, slightly more than in the year before.

It is followed by Škoda, which likewise gained some ground to 10.8%, and Renault at 10.2%. Hyundai and Toyota round off the top five.

Ford, in sixth place, recorded the biggest increase in units sold among Western makes, at 58%.

The figures show Chinese manufacturers are becoming a serious threat to established players.

Dongfeng ranks 15th, its sales exploding from a mere 20 units in 2024 to more than a thousand last year, while Leapomotor in 28th went from zero to 308 units sold to secure half a percent of the market.

MG and Geely, which have been on the market longer, saw their sales rise more modestly.

Despite the rapid growth, the overall market remains well below its peak.

The highest number of cars ever sold in a year was almost 74,000 in 2018, though that was a period when many cars were first registered in Slovenia, only to then be sold abroad.

Photo: Mateja Benec/STA