Market Spotlight
January 25, 2026 |
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Approximately 11 million new cars were registered in Europe in 2025, about 2% more than the previous year. The average share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) among total new registrations in Europe reached a historic high of 25% in December 2025, up from 23% in November. The Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar-Smart and Nissan-BYD pools led in BEV registration shares in December, each with 34%, followed closely by the BMW (33%), Kia (29%), and Tesla and Volkswagen pools (each with 25%). Below the European average were the Renault (19%) and Hyundai (15%) pools, followed by SAIC (13%).
This brought the BEV share of total new registrations for 2025 to 19%, an increase of 4 percentage points compared with 2024. Several manufacturer pools had substantial increases in BEV shares in 2025 versus the previous year. Kia recorded a 10 percentage-point increase, followed by the Nissan-BYD, Volkswagen, and Hyundai pools (+7 percentage points each). By contrast, SAIC saw a drop in its BEV share from 31% in 2024 to 14% in 2025. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) had an average market share of 9% among new registrations in Europe in 2025 (up 2 percentage points over the previous year), led by the Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar-Smart pool with a 24% share. For full hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), SAIC (46%), the Renault pool (29%), and the Nissan-BYD pool (24%) recorded the largest shares in 2025. In the mild hybrid electric (MHEV) segment, the BMW and Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar-Smart pools led in registration shares in 2025, at 37% and 36%, respectively. Conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) comprised 31% of new registrations in December and 37% in 2025. This is 10 percentage points lower than in 2024.
Figure 2. Average CO₂ emissions of manufacturer pools and individual manufacturers compared with estimated 2025–2027 targets, 2025
Note: Emission values include compliance credits. All CO₂ values are estimates according to the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). Only manufacturer pools and individual manufacturers with at least 1% market share in 2025 are shown. See the section on definitions, data sources, methodology, and assumptions for more information.
For the second month in a row, average monthly manufacturer carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions fell below the target for the 2025–2027 period, dropping to 87 g CO₂/km in December. That brought the average CO₂ emissions among manufacturer pools to 98 g CO₂/km in 2025. Including compliance credits, manufacturing pools thus remained 4 g CO₂/km short of the average target of 93 g CO₂/km for the 2025–2027 period. Compared with the previous month, CO₂ emissions dropped 7 g CO₂/km for the Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar-Smart pool, 4 g CO₂/km for the Tesla and Volkswagen pools, and 3 g CO₂/km for the Kia pool, while CO₂ emissions for the SAIC and Hyundai pools increased by 4 and 8 g CO₂/km, respectively, in December. Nearly all manufacturer pools reduced their target gap by 1 g CO₂/km or more, except for Hyundai, whose target gap increased by 1 g CO₂/km. The Nissan-BYD had the largest margin below its 2025–2027 target (19 g CO₂/km), followed by the BMW pool (3 g CO₂/km below), while the Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar-Smart pool exactly met its target. The Volkswagen pool remained the furthest behind, exceeding its target by 8 g CO2/km, down from 9 g CO2/km in November.
Looking at individual car brands with market shares of 1% or greater, Tesla and BYD had the greatest over-compliance at 91 g CO₂/km and 81 g CO₂/km, respectively, below their projected brand-level average targets for 2025–2027, followed by Volvo (31 g CO₂/km below), Mini (19 g CO₂/km below) and Cupra (17 g CO₂/km below). The brands with the largest target gaps were Nissan (29 g CO2/km above), SEAT (25 g CO₂/km above), Mazda (20 g CO₂/km above), Mercedes (19 g CO₂/km above), and Fiat (18 g CO₂/km above). Audi and Ford reduced their target gaps by an additional 3 g CO2/km compared with the previous month.



BEV registrations in 2025 grew strongly in Poland (+163%), Spain (+77%), and Italy (+46%) compared with the previous year. The introduction of government incentives promoted this growth: Spain reactivated its MOVES III program—first introduced in 2021—after it expired at the end of 2024 and Poland rolled out the NaszEauto program in February 2025. The effects of Italy’s new electric vehicle incentives, launched at the end of October, are already evident, with BEV registrations in November and December exceeding 12,000 units, more than double the monthly average for the rest of the year.
Compared with 2024, registration shares of PHEVs increased the most in the Netherlands and Spain (+5 percentage points) in 2025, while shares decreased by 6 percentage points in Belgium, where BEV demand is strong. Looking at the HEV market, shares of new registrations remained the highest in France and Poland (22% each) in 2025, while shares of MHEVs were highest in Italy (31%) and Poland (26%). MHEVs gained popularity in France, where they made up 21% of new registrations, representing a 37% increase compared with 2024.
Note: The figure highlights the 10 largest markets by new BEV and PHEV registrations. The “Other” category includes all remaining countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) except for Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, and Malta. Data for Cyprus and Portugal, both categorized under “Other,” cover January to November 2025 only.



Approximately 1.4 million new vans were registered in Europe in 2025, down from 1.6 million in 2024. Compared with 2024, registrations declined in France (−6%), Germany (−5%), and Italy (−5%) in 2025, while registrations in Spain grew by 9%. In 2025, 9% of newly registered vans were battery electric in Germany and France, compared with 5% in Germany and 7% in France in the previous year; in Q4 2025, shares reached 11% in Germany and 10% in France. European BEV registrations reached 12% in Q4 2025, resulting in an annual average share of 10% in 2025. The Toyota pool (17%), Volkswagen pool and Nissan (both 12%), and the Mercedes-Benz and Renault pools (both 11%) all had BEV shares above the 2025 European average, while the Stellantis (8%) and Ford (7%) pools as well as Iveco (1%) were below the average. The Toyota pool saw the greatest increase in BEV shares in 2025, at 10 percentage points over 2024, followed by the Renault pool (+7 percentage points). Looking at fleet-average CO₂ emissions, the average target gap is estimated to be 20 g CO₂/km, down from 22 g CO₂/km after the third quarter. The Toyota and Ford pools notably reduced their target gaps by 6 g CO₂/km each in the fourth quarter of 2025, while Iveco was the farthest from its 2025 CO₂ target with a gap of 34 g CO2/km.




At the end of 2025, there were on average roughly 8.9 22 kW-equivalent publicly accessible charging points installed per thousand passenger cars and vans on the road in Europe, up from 8.2 at the end of September. With nearly 53 22 kW-equivalent publicly accessible charging points per thousand passenger cars and vans, Norway continues to lead Europe in charging infrastructure, followed by Iceland (47), Denmark (41), and Sweden (28). Italy (3) and Spain (3) fell below the European average for publicly accessible charging points.
Note: The width of the bars corresponds to passenger car and van stock size estimates as of the end of 2024. 22 kW-equivalent is used to account for different power outputs while allowing for comparison among countries.

This publication is a collaboration between the ICCT, IMT-IDDRI, and ECCO think tank.
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Europe’s battery electric car market closes 2025 at a 19% average, up 4 percentage points from 2024
January 25, 2026
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