Main points
- In 2025, 444,860 vehicles were imported to Ukraine, of which 109,309 were electric cars.
- The most popular brands were the famous German brand and Tesla, with the Tesla Model Y being the most imported model.
Almost half a million cars were imported to Ukraine / autoportal.ua
Demand for electric cars has increased in Ukraine, so every fourth car that crossed the border last year was electric. It became known which models were chosen most often and why.
How many cars were imported and why did electric cars become popular?
444,860 vehicles were imported to Ukraine last year. This is 17% more than in 2024, writes Opendatabot.
Ukraine remains a used car market: over 70% of imports last year were used cars. The average age of imported vehicles has not changed over the year: 9 years.
Against this backdrop, there were also real automotive rarities: from a 1967 Honda Monkey moped to a classic 1971 Chevrolet Corvette,
– reports Opendatabot.
On the eve of the refund of taxes on the import of electric cars, such cars were in great demand, they even surpassed diesel cars in popularity: 109,309 electric cars versus 94,014 diesel cars.
What car brands are the most popular?
The most requested car brand was Volkswagen , while the Tesla Model Y became the most popular imported car of the year.
Volkswagen leads in 20 regions. The exceptions were the Odesa region, where BMW unexpectedly took the lead, in Chernihiv and Donetsk regions – Renault, and in Kherson region, the Spark motorcycle brand became the leader.
If we look exclusively at electric vehicles, Tesla has become the No. 1 brand in 22 regions of the country , second only to Volkswagen in the Zakarpattia region and to the Chinese BYD in the Sumy region.
Where were the most cars registered / infographics Opendatabot
Are there any benefits for electric cars in Ukraine?
Ukraine has benefits for electric vehicles, but from January 1, 2026, one of the taxes has returned, writes Glavred.
The so-called tax exemption for the import of electric vehicles has always had a certain validity period. That is, since 2018, the law has always stipulated an end date for its application. Almost every year it has been extended either for a year or for several years at once. This time the exemption was simply not extended,
– said Stanislav Buchatsky, head of the Institute for Car Market Research.
Therefore, preferential taxation has changed since January 1. However, it is worth remembering that this is not about the complete abolition of privileges, but only about the automatic additional calculation of value added tax.
Interesting! In 2025, the only tax on electric cars remained an excise tax – 1 euro for each kilowatt-hour of battery capacity, which usually does not exceed 100 euros.
What is known about the car market in Ukraine and Europe?
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Volkswagen overtook Tesla in electric vehicle sales in Europe in 2025, selling 274,278 BEVs, while Tesla sold 236,357.
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In January, demand for new cars in Ukraine significantly decreased. 4,789 new cars were registered, and imports of new cars fell by 57.8% compared to December. The brand ranking recorded an interesting shift in power: Toyota overtook Chinese BYD cars in popularity.
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Demand for new commercial vehicles in Ukraine also fell by 3%, with 946 vehicles sold. The most popular truck brands were RENAULT, CITROEN, PEUGEOT, JAC and FIAT.