European new car sales jumped by nearly 6% in July, marking the best month in over a year. This boost comes at a time when consumer confidence is shaky, showing a surprising resilience in the industry.
The Shift to Electrified Cars is Accelerating
The data reveals a clear and ongoing shift in what European drivers are buying. Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid-electric models are gaining serious ground, while traditional petrol and diesel cars are losing their dominance.
Even with rising EV sales, Tesla’s market share in Europe dropped for the seventh month in a row. The company now trails China’s BYD, which has just appeared in the sales figures for the first time.
Looking at the first seven months of the year, here’s how the market breaks down:
– Hybrids are the clear favorite, making up 34.7% of all new car sales. Their popularity is soaring, driven by strong sales in major markets like France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.
– Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs): Year-to-date, 1,011,903 new battery-electric cars were registered, capturing 15.6% of the EU market share, an increase from the low baseline of 12.5% in July 2024. Three of the four largest markets in the EU, accounting for over 60% of battery-electric car registrations saw gains: Germany (+38.4%), Belgium (+17.6%), and the Netherlands (+6.5%). This contrasted with France, which saw a decline of 4.3%, despite a positive 14.8% YOY gain in July 2025.
– Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also saw a significant boost. Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars in the same period reached 561,190 units. This was driven by increases in volume for key markets such as Spain (+94.5%) and Germany (+59.2%), but also Italy (+60.3%). As a result, plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 8.6% of EU car registrations, up from 6.9%.
Meanwhile, the combined market share for petrol and diesel cars has fallen sharply to just 37.7%, down from nearly half of the market last year.
Petrol and diesel cars
It’s a tough road for traditional car engines. Petrol car registrations fell by more than 20% by the end of July, with all major markets seeing a significant decline. France experienced the steepest drop, while Italy, Germany, and Spain also saw double-digit decreases.
Diesel cars are also fading, with registrations down more than 26%, shrinking their market share to just 9.5%. The data shows that in just one year, a significant portion of the European car market has moved away from traditional internal combustion engines.
[source: ACEA]
