24 July 2025
The EU new-car market saw a marked decline in June. But as 2025 hits the halfway point, which countries are looking strong, and which ones are a cause for concern? Autovista24 web editor James Roberts takes a deeper dive into the figures.
A total of 1,010,200 new cars were delivered across the EU in June. This marks a 7.3% year-on-year decline for the bloc.
Spanning the first six months of the year, total registrations are down 1.9% with 5,576,568 million units, according to the latest figures from ACEA. This is a deficit of 79,777 units compared with the halfway mark in 2024.
Of the 27 EU member states, 12 registered growth in June. Focusing on the four largest markets, Spain continued to shine.
The country recorded a 15.2% year-on-year increase in June, thanks to 119,125 registrations. Notably, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains drove this growth, with respective triple-digit increases compared with 2024.
This monthly improvement is also echoed when looking at the first six months of 2025. Spain recorded a 13.9% increase in registrations, with 609,801 units hitting the country’s tarmac. This made it the most prosperous of the major EU players.
Conversely, the EU’s largest automotive marketplace, Germany, saw a significant dive in June. Monthly registrations dropped by 13.8%. This followed a resilient May, where the country witnessed a 1.2% upward swing.
France saw a continued registrations slide, with a 6.7% fall in the month. Meanwhile, Italy witnessed a double-digit decline of 17.4%.
EU winners
Ireland enjoyed the bloc’s biggest overall registrations climb with a 63.2% year-on-year increase. However, this is a small-volume market. The biggest new-car market recording a double-digit improvement was Portugal. Registrations in the country surged by 14.8% with 23,184 units. Double-digit gains were also enjoyed by Croatia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania.
In particular, the Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania enjoyed a strong June, with 39.4% and 32.7% rises respectively. Both nations have benefited from lower interest rates, increased corporate fleet purchases and improved vehicle supply. This year-on-year boost is coupled with a strong showing in their year-to-date figures.
Lithuania has seen a 40.6% increase in registrations compared with the first half of 2025, with 20,790 units sold. Between January and June, the nation witnessed a significant 139.2% increase in PHEV registrations, coupled with a 41.6% leap in BEV numbers.
Neighbouring Latvia has similarly trended upwards, with a 29.1% year-on-year upswing in the first half of 2025. PHEVs undoubtedly drove this growth, with the powertrain enjoying a 393.5% increase, jumping from just 246 to 1,214 units sold compared with the first half of 2024.
Estonia proved to be the outlier among the Baltic states. The country endured a 14.5% decline in June. This was compounded by a wider 39.5% fall in the year to date, seemingly driven by significant drops across all powertrains, except PHEVs.
Of the larger markets, Austria saw a monthly drop of 9.2% compared with June 2024. However, in the year to date, the nation’s registration figures remained positive, with a 5.9% gain from the first six months of the year.
Electrified powertrains have driven this growth. PHEVs witnessed a 50.7% year-on-year increase in the first half of the year, while BEVs enjoyed a 42.2% uptick.
EU buyers choose hybrids
In the year to date, more than 1.94 million full and mild hybrids have been delivered across the EU, amounting to a market share of 34.8%.
June saw a sixth consecutive month of gains for hybrid powertrains, albeit with the smallest year-on-year increase of 2025 at 6.1%. This was the first single-digit monthly growth in the six-month period. The result gave the technology a 33.8% market hold.
Of the major markets in June, Spain accounted for the highest number of hybrid registrations with 46,639 new models taking to the country’s roads, a 24.3% year-on-year increase. France also enjoyed a strong growth of 19.5%.
More generally, Portugal witnessed a sizable monthly uptake in hybrid power, with a 77.1% year-on-year increase. Portuguese hybrid popularity was also apparent in the first six months of the year, recording a 62.4% year-on-year gain, with 29,762 units leaving dealerships for the first time.
Good EU BEV growth
Electric vehicles (EVs), consisting of BEVs and PHEVs, continued to see growth in June. Despite this, the market share remained below what is desired for wider decarbonisation goals.
A 7.8% year-on-year increase in EU BEV registrations meant that the technology made up 16.7% of new-car volumes in June, with 168,488 units. Meanwhile, PHEVs saw a healthy 41.6% year-on-year ramp-up to 94,178 deliveries. This gave the powertrain a 9.3% market share.
Together, BEVs and PHEVs accounted for 262,666 units registered in the month. EVs accounted for 26% of the overall market, up 5.6 percentage points (pp) on the same period in 2024, and the highest share so far in 2025.
Adding hybrids to the EV mix pushes the monthly total electrified vehicle share up to 59.8%. This underlines the appeal of the powertrain as a gateway to electrification in the EU. However, it also reveals an ongoing reluctance for consumers to commit fully to EVs.
Cyprus continued its notable growth in BEV uptake. Following a 190.2% increase in May, this remained high in June with a 166.1% increase. However, this improvement was based on a lower volume of 165 units. Similarly, Slovakia and Slovenia also saw triple-digit monthly increases in both the BEV and PHEV markets.
Sweden and the Netherlands continued to push forward in EV adoption with healthy BEV figures and double-digit PHEV gains.
Widening analysis to the first six months of 2025, and EV registrations command a 24% share of the EU new-car market, with over 1.34 million units. This rounds up to a 21.1% year-on-year increase. Again, adding hybrids to the powertrain mix makes up a 58.8% share of the overall market. This marks an increase of 10.2pp compared with the first half of 2024.
Between January and June, stand-out EV adopters included Austria, which recorded a 42.2% increase in BEV registrations, and 50.7% improvement for PHEVs. Of the four biggest new-car nations, BEVs propelled Spain’s overall prosperity with a 103.2% monthly increase and 83.9% surge over the first six months of 2025.
Cold as ICE
The decline of new internal-combustion engine (ICE) registrations is already a well-established trend in 2025, and the EU is no exception. This is sapping gains made from progress in the bloc’s electrified market.
In June, petrol totals amounted to 280,150 registrations, a slump of 25.4% compared with the same period in 2024. Yet, the diesel decline was more pronounced. Just 90,991 vehicles delivered, as opposed to 138,085 units recorded 12 months prior. This equated to a 34.1% fall. ICE models represented 36.7% of the overall new-car market in June, the powertrain grouping’s lowest monthly share so far in 2025.
After six months, ICE registrations are down 23% year-on-year, holding just 37.8% market share. This translates to a considerable deficit of 630,555 units.
For a second consecutive month, Romania saw the largest ICE sales decline. Petrol nosedived by 66.1% in June, while diesel fell by 61.8%.
In terms of petrol registrations, only Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Latvia and Slovenia saw an increased share. Diesel fared worse, with just four member states posting gains. This included Ireland, Lithuania, Malta and the Netherlands.
In the first half of 2025, petrol has prospered the most in the relatively strong market of Latvia with a 26.6% gain, and 7,414 units sold.
The largest drop has come in the neighbouring country of Estonia, amounting to a 60.3% plummet. Of the major markets, France has suffered the strongest petrol slump. With just 194,947 deliveries from January to June, this marked a 33.7% year-on year decline.
France is also the biggest player in the EU to turn away from diesel. Emphasised by a 42.7% slide in registrations, the country is leading the charge away from ICE models. However, consumers in the country are not favouring PHEVs or BEVs. Instead, buyers are looking towards hybrids.
The country’s powertrain adoption seems to be providing a glimpse of the wider EU’s stunted EV market share growth.
