New car sales in the European Union rose a little last year. The increase was mainly driven by growing interest in electric vehicles. Even so, total sales are still far below what Europe saw before the pandemic.
Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association shows car registrations in the EU rose 1.8% in 2025. Around 10.8 million vehicles were sold during the year.
Sales improved toward the end of the year. December registrations jumped 5.8% to about 963,000 cars. Electric and hybrid models played a big role in this rise.
Despite the pickup, the industry remains cautious. Car sales are still weak compared to past levels. High car prices, tighter household budgets, and lingering supply chain issues continue to weigh on demand.
Electric cars took a bigger share of the market in 2025. Nearly 1.9 million battery electric vehicles were registered. This gave them a 17.4% share of total sales. A year earlier, that figure was 13.6%.
Hybrid cars remained the most popular choice. They made up 34.5% of all new registrations. At the same time, petrol and diesel cars lost ground fast. Together, they accounted for just 35.5% of sales, down from 45.2% the year before.
Petrol car sales fell sharply. Overall, they dropped 18.7%. France saw the biggest decline, with sales down 32%. Germany, Italy, and Spain also recorded large falls.
Electric car demand grew fastest in the EU’s biggest markets. Germany led the way with a 43.2% increase. The Netherlands, Belgium, and France also posted strong double digit growth. These 4 countries made up nearly two thirds of all electric car sales in the EU.
The shift to electric vehicles has changed the competitive landscape. Tesla lost ground in Europe during the year. Its sales fell 31.9% in December to just over 21,000 cars. Its market share dropped to 2.2%.
For the full year, Tesla sales in Europe declined 37.9% to around 150,500 vehicles. The company was overtaken by China’s BYD.
BYD’s sales in Europe nearly tripled in December to 18,008 vehicles. Over the full year, its sales more than tripled to nearly 129,000 cars. This lifted its market share to 1.9%.
BYD became the world’s largest electric carmaker in 2025. It benefited from aggressive pricing and a wide range of models. Tesla also faced pressure from reduced US incentives and backlash linked to Elon Musk’s political views.
Looking at Europe as a whole, including the EU, the UK, and EFTA countries, car sales rose 7.6% in December to 1.2 million vehicles. For the full year, sales increased 2.4% to 13.3 million.
Jaguar Land Rover had a difficult year. A cyber attack in September forced factory shutdowns and hurt production. December sales fell 25.3% to just over 4,300 vehicles. Full year sales dropped 17% to around 53,000.
Jaguar sales were especially weak. The company sold only one Jaguar car in December. This came as it ended production of petrol and diesel models and moved fully toward an electric future.
