Europe’s new car sales increased at a faster pace in December but the overall sales volume in the whole year of 2025 remained below pre-pandemic levels, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said Tuesday.
In December, new car sales logged an annual growth of 5.8 percent after rising 2.1 percent in November.
The annual variation for December showed a surge of 51.0 percent for battery-electric and 36.7 percent for plug-in-hybrid electric cars, while hybrid-electric recorded a 5.8 percent increase.
On the other hand, sales of petrol and diesel cars plunged 19.2 percent and 22.4 percent, respectively.
Among major markets, car sales in Germany increased 9.7 percent and that in Italy gained 2.3 percent. Meanwhile, France reported a 5.8 percent drop and Spain registered a 2.2 percent fall.
New car registrations grew 1.8 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year. Sales totaled 2,880,298 units, which was well below pre-pandemic levels.
Data showed that battery-electric cars accounted for 17.4 percent of the EU market share in 2025, an increase from the low baseline of 13.6 percent a year ago. At the same time, hybrid-electric car registrations captured 34.5 percent of the market and it was the preferred choice among consumers in the EU.
Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars declined sharply to 35.5 percent from 45.2 percent in 2024.
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