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31 October 2025
Of Europe’s major new-car markets, Spain’s is shining the brightest. But with electric vehicles (EVs) once again powering growth, could incentive uncertainty dim this success? Tom Hooker, Autovista24 journalist, evaluates the figures.
At first glance, Spain’s 15.9% year-on-year new-car market growth recorded in October seems undeniably positive. It marks the country’s sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth and the eighth overall in 2025. So far this year, the country has not registered any decreases in overall monthly volume.
Compared with October 2024, an additional 13,313 units were delivered according to Autovista 24 calculations of ANFAC data. This brought the month’s total to 96,785 registrations.
Of all the powertrains, EVs and hybrids, including both full and mild-hybrids, were at the centre of this growth. This highlights Spain’s increasing interest in electrification.
‘October’s new-car registration figures provided three important takeaways. Firstly, this was the first month in which deliveries surpassed pre-pandemic levels,’ noted Ana Azofra, Autovista Group’s head of valuations and insights, Spain.
‘Secondly, we are seeing the clear dominance of hybrid vehicles, which accounted for 43.2% of all registrations. Thirdly, Spain continues to make steady progress toward electrification. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) reached a 22.4% market share in October, to the detriment of internal-combustion engines. For example, diesel vehicles accounted for only 5.6% of sales.’
‘Overall, the month highlights Spain’s ongoing move toward vehicle electrification, supported both by the product strategies of carmakers and by increasing consumer interest in lower fuel consumption and reduced emissions,’ Azofra commented.
The private sales channel boosted registrations in October, according to ANFAC. It saw a 23.9% year-on-year increase to 51,359 units. The corporate sector also enjoyed a delivery boost of 10.2% in the month, reaching 39,860 units. Conversely, the rental channel suffered a 5.2% decline to 5,566 registrations.
Spanning the first 10 months of 2025, new-car volumes rose by 14.9% to 951,388 deliveries according to Autovista24 calculations.
‘The market continues its upward trend in October and accumulates 14 consecutive positive months. Private purchases continue to mark significant increases compared to 2024,’ said GANVAM communication director Tania Puche.
In contrast, new-car volumes in France, Germany, Italy and the UK have not deviated far from their 2024 figures. This, combined with rising economic and geopolitical uncertainty in Europe, makes Spain’s performance particularly impressive.
However, it is not all positive news. October’s result is the lowest monthly growth since June. So, is there a genuine cause for concern?
The MOVES III purchase incentive scheme was implemented in April this year. Since then, EV volumes, which combine BEV and PHEV deliveries, have soared.
From May to August, both BEVs and PHEVs enjoyed triple-digit year-on-year growth every month. This plug-in progress culminated in a 24.4% market share in August, according to Autovista24 figures. Last month, however, the EV market share was two percentage points (pp) lower, according to ANFAC data.
The national incentive scheme runs until 31 December 2025. There has been no official announcement that the subsidies will continue past that date.
‘On the table now is the question of whether the MOVES incentive plan will be renewed. This could help maintain the current pace of growth in the market share of EVs. In fact, the funds in some autonomous regions have already run out, with the EV market share falling by 1.6pp compared to September,’ highlighted Azofra.
‘We are concerned about the lack of visibility we have regarding the continuity of aid in those regions or autonomous communities where the budget has been exhausted,’ added Faconauto communication director Raúl Morales.
A complete exhaustion of EV incentives would have a heavy impact on the wider new-car market. Excluding plug-ins from October’s overall figures would have resulted in monthly registrations growth of just 2.1%.
‘It is necessary to apply immediate measures and additional allocations to respond to buyers until the end of the year. Any uncertainty around the purchase decision must be dispelled because we cannot afford for the market to lose momentum, just as it was starting to recover,’ stated Puche.
The end of a deduction in personal income tax for the purchase of EVs could also slow down Spain’s plug-in demand. The current regulation states that the vehicle must be purchased between June 2023 and December 2025.
‘Market developments highlight the urgent need to extend MOVES funds until the end of the year to avoid a sales shutdown. A situation that could worsen in January 2026, when the 15% deduction in personal income tax for the purchase of electrified vehicles also ends,’ commented ANFAC general director José López-Tafall.
Despite incentive uncertainty, EV volumes continued to perform strongly against 2024 figures. Plug-in deliveries surged by 118.9% in October, reaching 21,690 units and a 22.4% market share, according to Autovista24 calculations.
This meant that, for the first time in 2025, year-to-date EV growth crept into triple-digit figures, recording a 100.2% improvement.
This was thanks to an extra 90,284 registrations compared to the same period in 2024. A total of 180,421 units were delivered in the 10-month period. Plug-ins accounted for 19% of the new-car market from January to October, up 8.1pp.
Yet, even with Spain’s surging EV growth, it is still behind other major new-car markets in terms of plug-in share. This includes France, Germany and the UK.
‘In 2025, electrification has taken a leap forward in Spain, motivated by the remarkable commercial effort of brands and the provision of purchase aids. However, although these figures are positive, they still place us below the European average: a 19% EV share in passenger cars compared to 25% in the EU,’ noted López-Tafall.
‘In addition, the current pace is still insufficient to meet the emission reduction targets for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles. This is not the time to settle, but to accelerate,’ he added.
For the seventh successive month, PHEVs were Spain’s best-performing single powertrain in terms of registration growth. Volumes soared by 145.5% in October to 12,621 units, according to Autovista24 calculations. Yet, after a peak improvement of 178.9% in July, growth has slowed in every month since.
On a more positive note, the technology’s market share rose by 6.8pp to 13%. This uptick was less pronounced in the cumulative figures. The powertrain accounted for 10.4% of overall deliveries compared to 5.7% during the first 10 months of 2024. Meanwhile, volumes soared by 109.6% to 99,283 units.
Meanwhile, BEVs enjoyed a year-on-year increase of 90.2% in October, with 9,069 units. This was an improvement from September’s 59.7% increase. All-electric models captured 9.4% of total volumes, up from 5.7%.
The powertrain’s share in the year-to-date reached 8.5%. This equated to a 3.3pp increase from October 2024. Volumes improved by 89.7% in the first 10 months of the year, thanks to 81,138 deliveries.
At the other end of the spectrum, deliveries of diesel-powered cars have dropped month to month, with October no exception. The fuel type endured a 28.6% fall in volumes to 5,459 units, according to Autovista24 calculations. However, this was diesel’s smallest decline since March.
This translated to a 5.6% share, down from 9.2%. It also marked the fourth time this year that the powertrain took a lower monthly share than the ‘others’ category. This grouping includes LPG-powered cars.
From January to October, diesel-powered models posted a 36.2% delivery decline to 52,697. It represented 5.5% of the market, down 4.5pp year on year.
‘In terms of technologies, the market continues to increasingly leave diesel aside, whose sales are residual. Individuals and companies are increasingly opting for hybridised or electrified models,’ commented Félix García, director of communication and marketing at ANFAC.
Petrol-powered cars did not fare much better, with a third consecutive month of double-digit decline. A 19.6% fall equated to 22,299 registrations and a 23% market share, according to Autovista24 calculations. This signalled the fuel type’s lowest share so far this year and a 10.2pp drop from 12 months prior.
Between January and October, petrol-powered models suffered a 13.7% decline, with 273,235 deliveries. This was 43,531 registrations fewer than the same period one year before. In turn, its market share fell from 38.2% to 28.7%.
Adding together petrol and diesel volumes, internal-combustion engine (ICE) models faced a 21.5% drop in October. Meanwhile, the pair’s share slumped by 13.7pp to 28.7%. This was its lowest level of 2025, highlighting the continued switch by Spanish buyers to electrified models.
A total of 325,932 petrol and diesel-powered cars were handed over to customers from January to October. This marked an 18.4% loss in volumes.
Hybrid powertrains have seen the greatest increase in terms of volumes of any powertrain across the first 10 months of 2025. Despite much lower overall growth than PHEVs or BEVs, an additional 84,499 hybrid models have taken to Spain’s roads so far this year, according to Autovista24 calculations.
This raised its total by 27.1% to 396,533 registrations in the year to date. It remains comfortably the most popular powertrain, accounting for 41.7% of total deliveries, up 4pp compared to the same period of 2024.
The technology saw a more subdued growth of 18.9% in October, equating to 41,792 units. In turn, its market share sat at 43.2%, up a modest 1.1pp.
Combining hybrids with the EV total, the electrified market continued to drive new-car volumes in Spain.
The powertrain grouping made up 60.6% of overall deliveries from January to October, up 12pp year on year. This was thanks to a 43.5% boost in volumes, with an extra 174,783 units handed over to customers compared to 12 months prior. This growth was reflected in October, with a 40.9% rise in registrations and a 65.6% market share.
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