April sales in the European Union fell by 1.2% compared to the same period last year. Nonetheless, registrations in April rebounded with a 1.3% year-on-year (YOY) increase, showing signs of recovery despite the ongoing unpredictable global economic environment.
Up until April 2025, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 15.3% of the total EU market share, signifying an increase from the low baseline of 12% in April 2024 YTD.
Hybrid-electric vehicles surged, capturing 35.3% of the market and remaining the preferred choice among EU consumers. Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell again to 38.2%, down from 48.4% over the same period in 2024.
In the first four months of 2025, new battery-electric car sales grew by 26.4%, to 558,262 units, capturing 15.3% of the total EU market share. Three of the four largest markets in the EU, accounting for 63% of all battery-electric car registrations, recorded robust gains: Germany (+42.8%), Belgium (+31.3%), and the Netherlands (+6.4%). This contrasted with France, which saw a decline of 4.4%, despite the recovery seen in April 2025. Tesla’s sales in Europe fell 49% in April from a year earlier. Tesla’s European market share dropped to just 0.7% from 1.3% a year ago.
April 2025’s YTD figures also showed new EU registrations of hybrid-electric cars rising by 20.8%, driven by significant growth in the four biggest markets: France (+44.9%), Spain (+35.8%), Italy (+15%), and Germany (+11%). This led to 1,285,486 units being registered in the first four months of 2025, representing 35.3% of the total EU market share.
Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars grew by 7.8% in April 2025 YTD, to a total of 287,850 units. This was driven by significant increases in volume for key markets such as Germany (+46.6%) and Spain (+42.8%). As a result, plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 7.9% of total car registrations in the EU, up from 7.2% in April 2024 YTD.
Furthermore, in April 2025’s YOY variation showed a rise of 34.1% for battery-electric and 20.8% for hybrid-electric cars, while plug-in-hybrid electric recorded a strong 31.2% growth.
By the end of April 2025, petrol car registrations saw a significant decline of 20.6%, with all major markets showing decreases. France experienced the steepest drop, with registrations plummeting by 35.2%, followed by Germany (-26.6%), Italy (-14.4%), and Spain (-12.7%).
With 1,041,176 new cars registered so far, the market share for petrol dropped to 28.6%, down from 35.6% during the same period last year. Similarly, the diesel car market declined by 26.4%, resulting in a 9.6% market share for diesel vehicles in April 2025 YTD. Overall, double-digit declines were observed in most EU markets.
Additionally, the April 2025 YOY variation showed a decline of 20.6% for petrol and 24.4% for diesel.
[source: ACEA]
