Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) together accounted for more than half of all new car registrations in the European Union in the year to date, new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has found.
BEVs accounted for 15.3% of new car registrations in the period from January to April 2025, the data showed, with sales of BEVs rising 26.4% to 558,262 units in the period.
This growth was led by Germany (+42.8%), Belgium (+31.3%), and the Netherlands (+6.4%), while France recorded a slight drop of 4.4%, the ACEA said.
HEVs continue to dominate new car registrations, accounting for 35.3% of the market in the year to date. HEV sales rose 20.8% in the period, with 1,285,486 units sold. France (+44.9%), Spain (+35.8%), Italy (+15%), and Germany (+11%) were the fastest growing markets.
Elsewhere, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) also registered growth, with a market share of 7.9% in the four-month period, and 287,850 units sold. Germany (+46.6%) and Spain (+42.8%) saw the biggest sales increases of PHEVs.
Traditional vehicles
Sales of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles saw notable declines in the period, with petrol car registrations across Europe falling by more than a fifth (-20.6%), driven by declines in France (-35.2%), Germany (-26.6%), Italy (-14.4%), and Spain (-12.7%).
Petrol cars now comprise 28.6% of the market, down from 35.6% a year ago.
Diesel vehicles saw an even larger decline, of 26.4%, and accounted for 9.6% of the market during the period. Double-digit declines were recorded in most markets, the data showed.
New car registrations
Overall, the April 2025 year-on-year variation indicates a dynamic shift in purchasing behaviour – battery-electric cars rose by 34.1%, hybrids by 20.8%, and plug-in hybrids by 31.2%. In contrast, petrol and diesel fell by 20.6% and 24.4% respectively.
Commenting on the overall market, ACEA said, ‘In April 2025 year-to-date (YTD), new EU car registrations fell by 1.2% compared to the same period last year. Nonetheless, registrations in April rebounded with a 1.3% year-on-year (YOY) increase, showing signs of recovery despite the ongoing unpredictable global economic environment.’ Read more here.
