BEVs Outsell Petrol Cars in EU December 2025

In a historic shift for the European automotive market, battery electric vehicles outsold petrol-powered cars for the first time in December 2025, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The milestone occurred across the 27-nation European Union, where registrations of pure battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, reached 217,898 units that month, a 51 percent increase from December 2024. In contrast, petrol car registrations fell 19 percent year-over-year to 216,492 units.

The December surge capped a year of steady progress for electric vehicles, though they did not yet dominate the full-year market. For 2025 overall, BEVs accounted for 17.4 percent of new car registrations in the EU, up from 13.6 percent in 2024, with a total of 1,880,370 units sold. Petrol cars, meanwhile, held 26.6 percent of the market, down from 33.3 percent the previous year, as registrations declined 18.7 percent across all major markets. France saw the sharpest drop at 32 percent, followed by Germany at 21.6 percent, Italy at 18.2 percent, and Spain at 16 percent. Diesel vehicles fared worse, with registrations plunging 24.2 percent to capture just 8.9 percent of...