EU new car registrations fall but BEV market picks up

Brussels – New EU car sales declined by 3% year-on-year to 853,670 units in the first two months of the year as major markets reported decreases in demand.

Demand fell in Italy by 6% compared to the first two months of 2024, while Germany and France reported declines of 4.6%, and 3.3% respectively.

Meanwhile, Spain recorded a positive development with an 8.4% increase year-over-year, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported 25 March.

In February alone, new car registrations declined 3.4% year-on-year, with the German market seeing the sharpest decline in volume of 6.4%, followed by Italy at 6.2%.

In terms of power source, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 15.2% of total EU market share for the first two months of the year.

This was a significant increase from the low baseline of 11.5% for the same time the year before.

Hybrid-electric vehicles surged, capturing 35.2% of the market and remaining the preferred choice among EU consumers.

Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 38.8%, down from 48.5% over the same period in 2024.

Across the first two months of 2025, new battery-electric car sales grew by 28.4%, to 255,489 units, with Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands posting year-on-year increases of 41%, 38%, and 25% respectively.

This contrasted with France, which saw a slight decline of 1.3%.

Registrations of hybrid-electric cars rose by 18.7% to 594,059 units over the two-month period, driven by a significant growth in the four biggest markets: France (+51.4%), Spain (+31.5%), Italy (+10.4%), and Germany (+9.8%).

Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars declined by 5% across the January-February period, with a total of 124,947 units.