BEV boost despite EU new-car market slump as emissions regulations begin
26 February 2025
New-car registrations in the EU fell last month. However, with new CO2 emission regulations starting in January, BEVs bounced back from a December slump. Tom Hooker, Autovista24 journalist, analyses the figures.
A total of 831,201 new cars took to the EU’s roads in January. This was a 2.6% drop year on year, equating to a loss of 22,048 units. It marks the bloc’s lowest monthly registration total since September 2024, according to figures from ACEA.
Out of the 27 EU member states, 13 saw market growth. However, declines in the biggest EU markets of Germany, France and Italy heavily hampered the region’s result. The three countries suffered a combined fall of 21,813 units compared to January 2024. The remaining market from the big four, Spain, improved deliveries by 5.3%.
Looking at other high-volume countries in January, Denmark increased its registrations by 22.6%, followed by Austria (up 16.5%), Sweden (up 14.4%), Ireland (up 6.6%) and Poland (up 3.4%).
Conversely, deliveries dropped in Greece (down 16.4%), Belgium (down 13%), Portugal (down 7.8%), Romania (down 6.4%), Czechia (down 5%), the Netherlands (down 4.6%).
BEV’s EU brilliance
BEV volumes soared by 34% last month, with 124,341 deliveries. This was a gain of 31,560 units compared to one year ago.
It marked the biggest BEV percentage increase since October 2023, meaning it was comfortably the best performing powertrain in the month in terms of growth. However, the result was also the technology’s lowest volume since August 2024.
Excluding all-electric vehicles from January’s total, new-car registrations would have declined by 7%. The powertrain took a 15% market share, up by 4.1 percentage points (pp) year on year. Germany, BEV’s biggest EU market, enjoyed a 53.5% surge in deliveries. Yet, the next largest BEV market of France suffered a 0.5% decline.
Meanwhile Italy saw growth of 123.8% year on year, while Spain increased its BEV tally by 48.5%. The remaining high-volume markets of Belgium and the Netherlands saw all-electric deliveries jump by 37.2% and 28.2% respectively. Denmark also improved volumes by 123.3%. Overall, only eight EU member states saw BEV registrations drop.
The impressive result may have been helped by carmakers delaying BEV deliveries at the end of 2024. By registering them in 2025, they would help to lower fleet average CO2 emissions, with new EU regulations coming into effect at the start of this year. BEV registrations declined by 10.2% in December 2024.
PHEVs fall
Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) deliveries fell by 8.5% last month, as they reached a total of 61,406 units. This was the technology’s lowest registration figure since September 2024. It accounted for 7.4% of total new-car volumes, down from 7.9% in January 2024.
The EU market leader for the powertrain, Germany, saw an improvement of 23.1%. However, Belgium and France, which both registered over 10,000 units in January 2024, saw PHEV volumes slump by 66.6% and 54% respectively. This equated to a combined loss of 12,828 units.
Combining BEV and PHEV figures, electric vehicle (EV) deliveries improved by 16.2% in January. A total of 185,747 plug-ins were registered in the month, an increase of 25,850 units year on year. EVs captured 22.3% of the market, rising 3.6pp from January 2023.
Diesel’s EU drop
Diesel was the worst-performing powertrain in January. Deliveries of the fuel type dropped 27% last month, with 82,942 units. This was a loss of 30,738 units year on year. The performance marked the biggest percentage decrease recorded by diesel since ACEA began reporting individual powertrain figures on a monthly basis in January 2023.
It was also the fuel type’s ninth consecutive month of decline and represented its lowest monthly total since August 2024. Diesel took a 10% market share, down by 3.3pp compared to one year ago.
Diesel’s second biggest market, Italy, slumped by 41.6%. Germany, which posted the highest deliveries for the powertrain in January, dropped by 19.5%. In total, only two out of the 10 largest diesel markets managed growth last month.
Petrol in parallel
Petrol’s January performance paralleled its internal combustion engine (ICE) counterpart. It dropped by 18.9%, with 244,763 registrations. This was a decline of 56,915 units year on year. It also represented the fuel type’s biggest percentage decrease since ACEA began reporting monthly powertrain figures.
Furthermore, January marked the technology’s ninth consecutive month of decline and lowest volume total since September 2024. Excluding petrol from the market total, EU new-car volumes would have grown by 6.3%.
The fuel type made up 29.4% of overall deliveries, down from 35.4% in January 2024. This meant it was the EU’s second most popular powertrain.
Every high-volume petrol market endured a drop last month. France fell 28.2%, followed by Germany (down 23.7%), Italy (down 17%), Spain (down 11.1%), Poland (down 8.2%) and Belgium (down 4.9%).
Combining petrol and diesel volumes, the ICE market recorded 327,705 registrations in January, a slump of 21.1% year on year. This equated to a loss of 87,653 units. Excluding the powertrain grouping, the new-car market would have grown by 15%.
ICE vehicles captured 39.4% of overall deliveries, a drop of 9.3pp compared to 12 months ago. This result was closer to hybrids’ individual share than the electrified market.
Hybrids help EU
Registrations of hybrid vehicles, including full and mild hybrids, improved by 18.4% in January, reaching 290,014 units. This equated to a gain of 45,156 deliveries year on year. It was the only other powertrain apart from BEVs to enjoy growth last month. Excluding the two from the market total, new-car registrations would have fallen by 19.2%.
January’s result was the fifth consecutive double-digit improvement for hybrids. The fuel type represented 34.9% of new-car volumes, up from the 28.7% share recorded one year ago. This made it the most popular powertrain in January. The technology sat 5.5pp ahead of petrol and just 4.5pp behind the ICE market.
The result meant it was the most popular powertrain in the EU for the month, continuing a run established in September 2024. This highlights the changing attitudes of car buyers, moving away from petrol and to the electrified technology.
In France, hybrid deliveries surged by 52.5%. The powertrain’s two biggest markets, Italy and Germany, grew by 10.6% and 13.7% respectively. Spain also saw double-digit growth of 23.5%, while Poland improved volumes by 9.4%. In total, only six EU member states suffered a hybrid decline.
Electrified market dominates
Adding the technology to last month’s EV figures, the electrified market grew by 17.5% in January, recording 475,761 registrations. This was an improvement of 71,006 units compared to one year ago.
The powertrain grouping took a market share of 57.2% last month, up by 9.8pp year on year. Moreover, this result was 17.8pp ahead of ICE’s market hold. Just 12 months ago, ICE volumes led the electrified market by 1.3pp.
The ‘others’ category, including hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles, natural gas and liquified petroleum gas vehicles, E85/ethanol, and other fuels, dropped by 16.3% in January.
The powertrain grouping registered 27,735 units in the month and accounted for 3.3% of overall deliveries. This was down from its 3.9% market share from 12 months prior.
