The car market in Europe closed 2025 with a slight overall growth in registrations, but the real shift is in the push of electric and hybrid powertrains. These are numbers that tell of an ongoing transition, with lights and shadows, and show how European mobility is slowly breaking away from the old fossil fuel paradigm.
According to final data from the European Association of Manufacturers (Acea), new registrations in the EU, Efta, and the United Kingdom increased by 2.4 percent in 2025 over the previous year to more than 13.2 million vehicles. Even looking at the EU alone, growth is positive, albeit smaller, at around1.8 percent. But this overall dynamic does not tell the whole story: behind the market’s resilience is a transformation in demand.
Electrics and hybrids: the new normal
The battery car segment is the most surprising. In 2025, the market share of pure electrics is close to 17.4 percent of the total, a significant growth from 13.6 percent in 2024. In some countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, the increase in electric registrations has been in double digits, a sign that the adoption of zero-emission models is also passing through the concrete will of consumers.
Traditional hybrids remain the preferred choice in many European countries, while plug-ins show even double-digit increases in markets such as Spain, Italy and Germany and have reached 9.4 percent of total car registrations in the European Union. The result is that more than half of all new cars registered in Europe have some form of engine electrification. While the sum of gasoline and diesel car sales has dropped to 35.5 percent.
If we look at the end-of-2025 data, the acceleration of electrics is further confirmed by other findings as well: in the final months of the year, sales of electric vehicles, including hybrids and full electrics, grew strongly, even more than 50 percent in some periods.
Still below pre-pandemic levels
Despite these positive signs, overall growth in the European auto market remains fragile. Total registrations are still below pre-Covid levels and the transition is not proceeding at the same speed everywhere. In particular, the share of electrics is very high only in some countries (such as Norway, where electrics dominate more than 90 percent of sales), while elsewhere penetration is more modest and influenced by factors such as the presence of charging infrastructure and national incentives.
These dynamics also reflect a shifting balance between supply and demand: on the one hand, European and global automakers are expanding their offerings of electric and hybrid models with better performance and more competitive prices; on the other hand, infrastructure, cost, and consumer buying habits are still visible barriers, especially in Southern and Eastern countries.
The role of policies and technology
The growth of electrics is driven by European policies that call for a progressive reduction in average emissions from new vehicles, with targets that will become progressively more stringent in the years ahead. At the same time, the spread of more efficient batteries, an expanding charging network and sustainability-related financial offers are making electric more attractive to traditional consumers as well.
Internationally, 2025 saw global EV sales growth of more than 25 percent, with Europe remaining one of the most dynamic markets after China, the clear leader in registrations.
The picture that emerges from 2025 is therefore multifaceted: the European car market is growing, but more slowly than the ongoing transformation under the hood of new powertrains. Electrics and hybrids are increasingly present, also dragging on the public and political debate about infrastructure, incentives and regulations. However, the road to true zero-emission mobility remains long, with obstacles to overcome and opportunities to seize.
