Electric vehicle sales surge across EU as overall car market stalls

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are speedily taking over the EU car market, even though the most popular category is still hybrid-electric models, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

New car registrations in the EU inched down by 0.1% in the first eight months of 2025 compared to last year, but increased by 5.3% in August. From January to August, sales of EVs grew year-on-year by 24.8%.

"The battery-electric car market share for August 2025 YTD held at 15.8%, still below the pace needed at this stage of the transition. The hybrid-electric car market remained the most popular power type amongst buyers," said ACEA in a press release.

The battery-electric car market share increased to the current 15.8%, up from 12.6% a year earlier. The hybrid-electric sales went up 16.4% in the period between January and August 2025.

The number of newly registered petrol and diesel cars collapsed by 19.7% and 25.7%, respectively, for the first eight months of the year.

Among the EU’s four largest economies, Germany registered EV sales up by 39.2% for the period between January and August. In Italy, this segment grew by 28.9% whereas EV sales in Spain almost doubled. France, by contrast, saw a slight decline of 2%, even though in August alone, EV sales jumped by 29.3%.

Which models were the most popular?

Volkswagen led the sales of new cars in the EU in the first eight months of 2025. The German car giant secured 27.5% of the market in this period as its overall sales went up by 4.1% year-on-year. Among its brands, Skoda and Cupra saw the biggest increase in sales, by 10% and 39.1% respectively. Audi, Porsche and Seat sales, in contrast, slumped.

The French Renault Group's sales grew by 5.8% in the same period, with each of its Renault, Dacia and Alpine brands boosting the numbers of new car registrations.

Toyota and Stellantis, together providing nearly one quarter of the market, saw their sales drop, while BMW and Mercedes increased their sales.

Tesla sales continued to drop by more than 42%, cutting its market share to 1.2% from 2.1% last year. Meanwhile, Chinese competitors kept conquering the European market with BYD selling +244% more than last year, and SEIC Motors boosting their sales by 33.1%.