Following March’s global surge in electric-vehicle interest, sales fell 9% month-over-month, including a plunge in North America.

Still, global sales were up year-over-year to 1.6 million units, a 6% bump, led by Europe, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data.

“Europe remains the main engine of growth, with sales up 26% year-to-date and April volumes exceeding 400,000 units,” said Benchmark Data Manager Charles Lester. “Demand continues to be supported by policy incentives, rising petrol prices, and growing Chinese OEM presence,” he said, referring to the global EV leader.

Global EV sales are essentially flat year to date at 5.6 million units. Benchmark said the strong sales growth in Europe and the rest of the world offset the decline in North America and in China. 

North America’s year-to-date sales were down 25% in April, largely driven by the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, the Mexican EV market grew by nearly 50%, thanks to an influx of Chinese models that Benchmark said arrived before a 50% import tariff on EVs “from countries without a free trade agreement” took hold. 

In the U.S., where the Trump administration pushed through the end of EV incentives and instituted tariffs to encourage domestic production, home-grown EV manufacturer Rivian Automotive has begun customer production of midsize SUV R2 at its facility in Normal, Ill. The automaker also announced plans to expand the capacity of its future plant in Georgia from 200,000 units annually to 300,000.