Drop in EU new car sales in February by 3%

In February 2025 year-to-date (YTD), new EU car registrations declined by 3% compared to the same period in 2024, according to the latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) . Notably, the bloc’s major markets saw declines, with Italy (-6%), Germany (-4.6%), and France (-3.3%). Spain conversely recorded an 8.4% increase.

In February 2025, the year-on-year (YOY) decline was 3.4%, with the German market seeing the sharpest decline in volume of 6.4%, followed by Italy (-6.2%).

New EU car registrations by power source

Up until February 2025, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 15.2% of total EU market share, signifying an increase from the low baseline of 11.5% in the comparable period of January-February 2024.

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.

Electric cars

Across the first two months of 2025, new battery-electric car sales grew by 28.4%, to 255,489 units, capturing 15.2% of total EU market share. Three of the four largest markets in the EU, accounting for 64% of all battery-electric car registrations, recorded robust double-digit gains: Germany (+41%), Belgium (+38%), and the Netherlands (+25%). This contrasted with France, which saw a slight decline of 1.3%.

February 2025’s YTD figures showed new EU registrations of hybrid-electric cars rising by 18.7%, driven by significant growth in the four biggest markets: France (+51.4%), Spain (+31.5%), Italy (+10.4%), and Germany (+9.8%). This led to 594,059 units registered in the first two months of 2025, representing 35.2% of the EU market share.

Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars declined by 5% across the January-February 2025 period, with a total of 124,947 units. This decrease was primarily driven by significant reductions in key markets such as Belgium (-65.3%) and France (-49.3%). As a result, plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 7.4% of total car registrations in the EU.

Furthermore, the February 2025 YOY variation showed a rise of 23.7% for battery-electric and 19% for hybrid-electric cars, while plug-in-hybrid electric saw a slight decline of 1.4%.

Petrol and diesel cars

By February 2025 YTD, petrol car registrations saw a significant decline of 20.5%, with all major markets showing decreases. France experienced the steepest drop, with registrations plummeting by 27.5%, followed by Germany (-24.9%), Italy (-19%), and Spain (-13%).

With 489,838 new cars registered so far, the market share for petrol dropped to 29.1%, down from 35.5% during the same period last year. Similarly, the diesel car market declined by 28%, resulting in a 9.7% market share for diesel vehicles by February 2025. Overall, double-digit declines were observed in most EU markets.

Additionally, the February 2025 YOY variation showed a decline of 22.4% for petrol and 28.8% for diesel.