The Volkswagen Group's electric car renaissance is off to a strong start in the United States with the arrival of the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 and other EV models from the automaker's luxury Audi and Porsche brands. The VW brand posted its best US sales figures since 1973, and the Porsche Taycan nearly outsold the iconic 911. With an influx of new models, the VW Group has more than doubled its global EV sales from 64,462 to 170,939 units in the first half of 2021.

A whopping 74.9% (128,078 vehicles) of these deliveries were in Europe, where VW Group leads with a 26% EV market share. Another 10.8% of deliveries were in the US, where the group delivered 18,514 vehicles. China was surprisingly smaller than the European and US markets, with 18,285 vehicles (10.7%). VW hopes to increase its sales in China with the three-row ID.6, built specifically for that market.

The best-selling global EVs from the VW Group go as follows: Volkswagen ID.4 at 37,292 units, Volkswagen ID.3 at 31,177 vehicles, Audi e-tron (and e-tron Sportback) at 25,794 units, Porsche Taycan (and Taycan Cross Turismo) at 19,822 units, and Volkswagen e-Up at 17,890 units. A full 54.3% of the sales (92,859 vehicles) came from the core VW brand, followed by Audi at 19.2% (32,775 vehicles), Porsche at 11.6% (19,822 vehicles), Skoda at 10.4% (17,697 vehicles), and SEAT at 3.6% (6,172 vehicles).

VW Group's EV sales should only increase over time as new models like the Audi A4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback hit the market. Tesla still outmatched its German rival with 184,800 deliveries in the first quarter alone. Adding in 201,250 deliveries in Q2, and Tesla more than doubled VW's EV deliveries. It does not break down sales by country, but it seems like the American EV manufacturer will hold its market lead for the foreseeable future. However, with multiple brands all launching hot new EVs, the VW Group may catch up sooner rather than later.