April 2025 marks a slight rebound in the European automotive market. Electric cars continue to climb in the statistics, but their market share remains far from expectations. In some countries, registrations are plummeting, leaving a feeling of unfinished business.
The European automotive market seems to be slowly picking up. In April 2025, new car registrations in the European Union increased by 1.3% compared to the same period the previous year, according to data published by ACEA. This figure remains modest and comes in a still unstable economic context. Inflation, rising interest rates and cautious households continue to hamper purchases. Between January and April, overall registrations were down 1.2%, despite the rebound in April.
In this hesitant climate, electric cars are nevertheless showing encouraging figures. In the first four months of the year, 558,262 all-electric (BEV) models were registered in the EU, an 26.4% increase compared to 2024. But despite this increase, their market share remains stable at 15.3%, still far from European targets. In April, sales increased by 34.1% year-on-year, driven in particular by affordable models such as the Dacia Spring 2024 and the new Renault 5 E-Tech.
Conventional hybrid cars largely dominate sales in Europe at the start of 2025
Between January and April, conventional hybrid cars (HEV) dominated the market, with more than 1.28 million units registered and a market share of 35.3%. Their growth was notable in the main countries: +44.9% in France, +35.8% in Spain, +15% in Italy and +11% in Germany. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), meanwhile, reached 287,850 units over the same period, an increase of 7.8%. Germany and Spain drove this growth, with +46.6% and +42.8% respectively.
On the other hand, conventional combustion engines continued their decline. Sales of gasoline cars fell by 20.6% and diesel cars by 26.4%, with double-digit declines in all major markets. In France, gasoline car registrations even plunged by 35.2% year-on-year. The combined share of gasoline and diesel vehicles now represents only 38.2% of the European market. Electrification is progressing, but the transition remains slow and uneven across countries.
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