The number of registered new cars in the EU in 2025 increased by 1.8% year-on-year to 10.82 million units, while the number of hybrid electric vehicles increased by 13.7% to 3.74 million units, which allowed them to occupy 34.5% of the market, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), published on January 27.
Despite the increase in the total number of new registrations, they remained well below pre-pandemic levels.
Battery-powered electric vehicles accounted for 17.4% of the EU market, as they showed significant growth of 29.9% year-on-year to 1.58 million units, while plug-in hybrid vehicles showed an even sharper increase of 33.4% to 1.05 million units, with a market share of 9.4%.
On the contrary, the combined market share of gasoline and diesel vehicles decreased to 35.5% in 2025 from 45.2% in 2024. The share of gasoline vehicles in the market decreased to 26.6%, amounting to 2.88 million units, from 33.3% a year earlier, while the number of registered diesel vehicles decreased by 24.2%, to 960,024 units, or 8.9%.
In December 2025, the number of electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries increased by 51%, and the number of plug-in hybrid devices increased by 36.7%, while the number of electric vehicles with hybrid engines increased by 5.8%.
This shift reflects a change in consumer preferences that could significantly affect European demand for refined petroleum products, in particular gasoline and diesel consumption, as well as the need for metals for batteries in addition to carbon steel, the main materials for car production, with approximately 900 to 1,400 kilograms per average passenger. steel car.
On January 26, Platts, a member of S&P Global Energy, estimated domestic hot-rolled coil production in Northern Europe at 640 euros per ton (US$766 per ton) at the Ruhr plant and in Southern Europe at 630 euros per ton at the Italian plant, unchanged from the previous session.
Author: Annalisa Villa
