Report
European vehicle market statistics, 2016/2017
The annual European Vehicle Market Statistics Pocketbook offers a statistical portrait of passenger car and light-commercial vehicle fleets in the European Union from 2001—and, beginning with the 2014 edition, of the heavy-duty fleet as well. The emphasis is on vehicle technologies, fuel consumption, and emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.
See the EU Pocketbook online, eupocketbook.theicct.org, for interactive charts and underlying data.
Selected highlights of the 2016/2017 edition
- After declining for several years, new passenger car registrations in the EU increased to about 13.7 million in 2054, though they remain about 12% below the level before the economic crisis.
- Average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars continued to decrease, falling to 120 g/km in 2015, which is significantly lower than the 130 g/km target set by the EU CO2 regulation for 2015.
- Diesel cars account for 52% of all new registrations in 2015 despite the recent “Dieselgate” scandal and differs notably from other major car markets.
- Overall, hybrid-electric vehicles were 1.5% of all new car sales in 2015, but in some Member States their market share was significantly higher—3.3% in the Netherlands, for example, and 2.2% in France.
- Plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles accounted for more than 22 % of all new car sales in Norway in 2015, and in the first half of 2016 their market share further increased to 26%. This makes Norway the world’s leading market for electric vehicles in terms of market share.
- Since September 2015 the Euro 6 emission standard has applied to all new vehicles in the EU. In 2015, about 59% of all new car sales were Euro 6 vehicles.
- Euro 6 sets emission limits that range from 68% (gasoline carbon monoxide) to 96% (diesel particulates) lower than those established under Euro 1 in 1992. Limits on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel cars were reduced by 68% from Euro 4 to Euro 6. However, vehicle tests indicate that “real-world” performance is much worse than suggested by the official values.
