Electric vehicles from Chinese automaker BYD are unloaded at a port in Zarate, Argentina, on Jan. 20. Photo Credit: Luciano Gonzalez / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Environment ArgentinaElectric Vehicle Sales Surge in Emerging Markets
Electric vehicles are rapidly gaining ground in Argentina, where their share of new car sales rose from under 1% to 6% in a year.
“The conditions are there now where any country in the world can see a very rapid boom in EV sales,” said Euan Graham, senior electricity and data analyst at Ember.
Chinese manufacturers are helping drive the shift by bringing more affordable electric and plug-in hybrid cars into markets previously overlooked by Western automakers. BYD accounted for 89% of Argentina’s electric and plug-in hybrid sales so far in 2026, while Brazil’s EV market share reached 12.7% in the first quarter. Globally, one in four new cars sold in 2025 was electric or plug-in hybrid, suggesting that emerging economies could adopt cleaner transport faster than previously expected.
