Mobility is fundamental to opportunity. Across Inchcape's markets it connects people to work and services and supports social and economic development. Our responsibility and ambition is to keep that access open while reducing the industry's impact on the climate.
Our role is not to impose a single answer on which technology is right for every market, but to support a lower-emissions transition that is locally relevant — one that meets each market where it is. As Rajvi Kothari-Barr recently discussed in Just Auto, there is no single global EV consumer. This belief sits behind our multi-powertrain approach.
New energy vehicle readiness looks different from one market to the next, and the industry has been reducing emissions intensity per vehicle year on year through several routes: full BEV adoption, a gradual shift to hybrids and other NEVs, or more efficient, lighter petrol engines.
Working with more than 60 OEM partners worldwide, and drawing on our digital platforms and end-to-end distribution model, we shape each market's portfolio around local demand, infrastructure, consumer behaviour and preferences.
The barriers are local
Our experience on the ground shows that the barriers vary widely. Customer preference, infrastructure, policy and culture all have to be weighed together for the transition to be fair as well as effective. In some markets across the Americas, affordability is the main obstacle, made harder by limited awareness of NEV technology and limited charging infrastructure.
Operating across markets at different stages of transition gives Inchcape a unique perspective on how these factors interact in practice.
Progress across our regions
In 2025, we saw strong momentum in NEV adoption across our Americas, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Europe & Africa regions.1
In the Americas, NEV adoption rose quickly, supported by strong market expansion — regional volumes up 66%, led by Chile (+86%) and Colombia (+69%), with an average 30% share of NEV segments across Chile, Bolivia, Panama and Peru. We grew the portfolio to 30 NEV models, including 15 BEVs, ran our first region-wide NEV training programme and piloted a technician programme with Bosch in Costa Rica. In Chile, our new partnership with Copec Voltex is extending a fast-charging network of more than 120 points. Much of this is coordinated by our NEV Community, a cross-functional network of 50+ colleagues set up in 2024. That momentum has continued into 2026: year to date, our portfolio includes more than 90 NEV models, including 10 added this year, while NEVs account for more than 30% of our regional sales.
In APAC, markets sit at different stages, so the pathways differ. BEV uptake stayed strong in Hong Kong and Singapore, while Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand saw fast hybrid growth. Across the region, NEVs reached 25% of units sold, up from 20% in 2024. We kept building the charging network, adding around 150 chargers in Hong Kong to reach roughly 550, and in early 2026 opened the city's first combined petrol and EV station with Chevron.
In Europe, we grew 17% between 2023 and 2025 against market growth of 6%, and our share of the BEV and hybrid segment ran ahead of our overall share. Growth was strongest in Central and Eastern Europe, where BEV share of our sales mix nearly tripled, to almost 16%. We also widened the OEM portfolio — launching GAC in Greece and extending BYD into Lithuania and Latvia — and entered Iceland's advanced EV market through acquisition, where we now help business customers move to lower-emission fleets. That expansion has continued in 2026 where, in July, we extended our collaboration with GAC AION into Romania. Taken together, these steps show how portfolio changes, targeted expansion and market-share growth can support a transition that stays resilient, lower-carbon and — importantly — accessible to the communities we serve.
1 Unless otherwise indicated, all regional data discussed refers to 2025.