Petrol and diesel share of EU car sales plunges in January

Brussels – New car registrations in the European Union declined by 2.6% year-on-year in January, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

However, there were marked variations by power-source category, with petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid electric largely accounting for the drop, ACEA’s market data for January shows.

Overall, each of the major economies recorded falls, with France heading the list on -6.2%, followed by Italy at -5.8% and Germany on -2.8%.

By contrast, car registrations in Spain showed an appreciable increase with a recorded rise of 5.3%.

In its statistics, the ACEA revealed contrasting performances by categories, with both battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid-electric cars increasing share.

In January 2025, combined petrol and diesel EU market share fell to 39.4% – down from 48.7% in January 2024.

Petrol car registrations were badly hit with a decline in registrations across the EU of 18.9% and falls in all major national markets.

France again recorded the most severe decline at -28.2%, followed by Germany (-23.7), Italy (-17%) and Spain (-11.1%).

While petrol’s individual market-share fell from 35.4% in January 2024 to 29.4% in January, diesel fared far worse.

Sales of diesel cars registered a 27% market reverse, producing a 10% market share overall for the category last month.

BEVs and hybrid-electric vehicles appeared to benefit largely from those declines.

BEVs achieved a 37% increase in their share of registrations in January, compared to the same month last year, to gain a 15% market-share against 11% in 2024.

Total sales grew 34% to 124,341 units, largely fuelled by sales in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands that accounted for nearly two thirds of battery-electric registrations.

HEVs were the most successful category, however, grabbing 34.9% of the EU market with 290,014 units and increasing their new registrations 18.4%.

France, which recorded declines in other car types, boasted the largest growth of 52.2% with strong showings from Spain (23.5%), Germany (13.7%) and Italy (10.6%).

Plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles bucked this trend, though, dropping by 8.5% to 61,406 units to achieve just 7.4% of total car sales in the EU.

Two countries largely drove this decline: Belgium and France reporting declines of 67% and 54% respectively.