Although there is progress to be seen in both electric and hybrid cars, car sales in the EU are busy finding reverse gear. This could trigger more layoffs.
Total sales of new cars in the EU experienced a decline in the first quarter of 2025. The figures show a decrease of 1.9 percent compared to the same period in 2024.
The development reflects a continuing challenging and unpredictable global economic climate for car manufacturers.
Despite the overall decline, there were large shifts between powertrain types. Electric and hybrid cars gained market share, while both gasoline and diesel cars declined.
This is shown by a report from the European car brands' interest group ACEA.
The market share of electric cars in the EU was 15.2 percent in the first quarter of 2025, while hybrid cars accounted for 35.5 percent. Petrol and diesel cars together accounted for 38.3 percent of sales.
Sales of pure electric cars increased by 23.9 percent in the quarter. This corresponds to 412,997 newly registered units. The market share of electric cars thus reached 15.2 percent of the total EU market in the first three months of 2025.
This is an increase from 12 percent in the first quarter of 2024. However, this must be seen in light of a still weak electric car on European roads.
In fact, another calculation from the same ACEA shows that the share of electric cars in the European car market cannot climb above 1.8 percent. Read more about it here .
Three out of the four largest markets in the EU experienced reverse growth for electric cars in the first months of 2024. The three markets account for 63 percent of all electric car registrations.
Germany had growth of 38.9 percent, Belgium grew by 29.9 percent, and the Netherlands increased by 7.9 percent.
France fell by 6.6 percent. Explanations can be found, among other things, in the government support for electric cars that the French government has withdrawn.
Non-rechargeable hybrid cars continued their rise. Sales increased by 20.7 percent in the first quarter of 2025, corresponding to 964,108 registrations. Hybrid cars remain the most popular powertrain type among drivers in the EU.
The growth of hybrid cars was driven by significant gains in the four largest markets. France rose by 47.5 percent, Spain by 36.6 percent, Italy by 15.3 percent and Germany by 10.5 percent. Hybrid cars thus took 35.5 percent of the EU market share.
Focus on electrified cars
Plug-in hybrid cars, which are virtually impossible to sell in Denmark due to changed measurement methods, accounted for more modest growth. Sales increased by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025 to a total of 207,048 units.
The growth was primarily due to increases in Germany (+41.8 percent) and Spain (+30.7 percent).
This meant that plug-in hybrid cars now account for 7.6 percent of total car registrations in the EU. This is a slight increase from 7.4 percent in the same period last year.
Looking at the month of March 2025 in isolation, there was also growth for electrified cars compared to March 2024. Sales of electric cars increased by 17.1 percent, hybrid cars increased by 23.9 percent, and plug-in hybrid cars grew by 12.4 percent.
At the same time, total car sales in the EU decreased slightly in March 2025. The decrease was 0.2 percent compared to March the previous year.
The combined market share of cars with petrol and diesel engines fell significantly. The two powertrain types accounted for 38.3 percent of sales in the first half of 2025. That figure was 48.3 percent just a year ago.
Decline for petrol and diesel cars
Sales of gasoline cars experienced a significant decline of 20.6 percent in the first quarter. All major markets showed declining sales figures.
France experienced the largest decline, with a 34.1 percent drop. Germany fell by 26.6 percent, Italy by 15.8 percent and Spain by 9.5 percent.
779,817 new petrol cars were registered during the period. The market share of petrol cars fell to 28.7 percent from 35.5 percent the previous year.
The diesel market fell even further, with a decline of 27.1 percent. Diesel cars' market share fell to 9.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025. There were double-digit percentage declines in most EU markets.
The figures for March 2025 also showed a decline for gasoline and diesel cars compared to March 2024. Gasoline sales fell 20.7 percent, and diesel sales fell 25.5 percent.
The development of car sales in the EU is difficult to say anything about these days, because it can change so extremely quickly. At the same time, several car brands fear that they will have to lay off employees in droves.
The explanation must be found in the extremely large investments that have been made for electric cars. Investments that cannot be supported by demand. Not even if it increases. The largest increases must be explained by the fact that they are from already very modest figures.
