Analysis: EVs just outsold petrol cars in EU for first time ever

<p>Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) overtook standard petrol cars in the EU for the first time in December 2025, according to new figures released by industry group the <a href="https://www.acea.auto/">European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association</a> (ACEA). </p>

<p>The figures show that registrations of battery EVs – sometimes referred to as BEVs, or “pure EVs” – reached 217,898, up 51% year-on-year from December 2024, as shown in the chart below.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Meanwhile, sales of standard petrol cars in the bloc fell 19% year-on-year, from 267,834 in December 2024 to 216,492 in December 2025. (Note that this definition, from ACEA, excludes &#8220;hybrid&#8221; cars that only run on petrol, but also have a small battery.)</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img alt="Chart showing that EV sales just overtook petrol cars in EU for the first time" class="wp-image-60980" height="1040" src="https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ev-sales-overtake-petrol-eu.png" width="1850" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Monthly passenger battery EV and standard petrol car registrations in the EU from January to December 2025. Source: ACEA.</figcaption></figure>

<p>Overall in 2025, EVs reached 17.4% of the market share in the bloc, up from 13.6% the previous year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(EVs run purely from a battery that is charged from an external source, plug-in hybrids have both a battery that can be charged and an internal combustion engine, while regular hybrids cannot be plugged in, but have a smaller battery that is charged from the engine or braking.) </p>

<p>According to ACEA, 1,880,370 new battery-electric cars were registered last year, with the four biggest markets – Germany (+43.2%), the Netherlands (+18.1%), Belgium (+12.6%), and France (+12.5%) – accounting for 62% of registrations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In a <a href="https://www.acea.auto/pc-registrations/new-car-registrations-1-8-in-2025-battery-electric-17-4-market-share/">release</a> setting out the figures, ACEA described this as “still a level that leaves room for growth to stay on track with the transition”.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Meanwhile, registrations of petrol cars fell by 18.7% across 2025, with all major markets seeing a decrease.&nbsp;</p>

<p>France accounted for the steepest decline in standard petrol registrations at 32% year-on-year, followed by Germany (-21.6%), Italy (-18.2%), and Spain (-16%).</p>

<p>Overall, 2,880,298 new standard petrol cars were registered in 2025, a drop in market share from 33.3% in December 2024 to 26.6%. </p>

<p>Hybrid vehicles, which are still entirely fuelled by petrol or diesel, remain the largest segment of the EU car market, with sales jumping 5.8% from 307,001 in December 2024 to 324,799 a year later, as shown in the chart below.</p>

<p>However, cars that can run on electricity from the grid – battery EVs and plug-in hybrids – are growing even faster, with sales up 51% and 36.7% in December 2025, respectively.</p>

<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img alt="Chart showing that hybrids are the most common new cars in the EU but EVs are catching up" class="wp-image-60981" height="1314" src="https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/evs-catching-up-hybrids.png" style="width: 500px;" width="878" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">EU car registrations by type, December 2024 and December 2025. Source: ACEA.</figcaption></figure></div>

<p>The registration figures follow the <a href="https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-themes/action-plan-future-automotive-sector/automotive-package_en">EU&#8217;s automotive package</a>, released in December to “support the automotive sector’s efforts in the transition to clean mobility”.</p>

<p>It includes a <a href="https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/transport-decarbonisation/road-transport/cars-and-vans_en#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20proposal%2C%20from,please%20consult%20the%20dedicated%20webpage%20.">proposed</a> shift from banning the sale of new combustion-engine cars from 2035 to reducing their tailpipe emissions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Under the proposals, the EU will target a 90% cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 2021 levels by 2035, rather than all vehicle sales having to be zero-emissions.</p>

<p>If approved, the package would require that the remaining 10% of emissions be compensated through the use of low-carbon steel made in the EU or from e-fuels and biofuels.</p>

<p>This would allow for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), “<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/could-extended-range-evs-nudge-more-car-buyers-toward-full-electric">range extenders</a>”, hybrids and pure internal combustion engine vehicles to “still play a role beyond 2035”.</p>

<p>There has been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/eu-relent-combustion-engines-ban-after-auto-industry-pressure-2025-12-16/">repeated</a> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/the-party-is-over-european-carmakers-face-tariffs-price-war-china-2025-09-09/">pushback</a> from the automotive sector in Europe against the introduction of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/03/eu-gives-carmakers-breathing-space-on-green-targets-as-ev-sales-slump">clean car rules</a>”, which has led to targets being shifted more than once.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example, the head of Stellantis in Europe, one of the continent&#8217;s largest car manufacturers, recently <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/17/nobody-wants-electric-cars-vauxhall-owner-executive-claims/">claimed</a> that there was no “natural” demand for EVs.</p>

<p>Automakers have argued that EU targets for cleaner cars should be eased in the face of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/07/china-in-push-to-dominate-europe-electric-vehicle-market-with-uk-as-gateway">competition</a> from Chinese producers and US tariffs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>ACEA figures show Volkswagen continued to claim the largest market share in the EU, accounting for 26.7% of new registrations in December, up from 25.6% a year earlier.</p>

<p>It was followed by Stellantis, Renault, Hyundai, Toyota and BMW.</p>

<p>EV giant Tesla saw its market share drop from 3.5% in December 2024 to 2.2% in December 2025. Over the course of 2025, the brand saw its market share in the EU fall 37.9% from 2024, following <a href="https://fortune.com/2025/03/17/tesla-torched-berlin-surveys-germans-deserting-elon-musk-carmaker/">controversy</a> around its owner, Elon Musk.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Meanwhile, Chinese EV brand BYD tripled its market share from 0.7% in December 2024 to 1.9% in December 2025.</p>

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<p>The post <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-evs-just-outsold-petrol-cars-in-eu-for-first-time-ever/">Analysis: EVs just outsold petrol cars in EU for first time ever</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org">Carbon Brief</a>.</p>