Market Spotlight
European Market Monitor: Cars and vans (March 2025)
Passenger car registrations
Figure 2. Average CO2 emissions of manufacturer pools and individual manufacturers compared with estimated 2025 targets, 2025 YTD
Note: Note: Includes compliance credits. All CO2 values are estimates according to the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). Only manufacturer pools and individual manufacturers with at least 1% market share YTD are shown. See the section on definitions, data sources, methodology, and assumptions for more.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions among manufacturer pools averaged 103 g CO2/km in March 2025. As a result, manufacturing pools remain 10 g CO2/km from the average target of 93 g CO2/km for 2025. The Hyundai and Tesla-Stellantis-Toyota pools reduced their target gaps significantly compared with the previous month, by 25% and 13%, respectively. The BMW pool is currently in compliance with its 2025 target, while Nissan (29 g CO2/km above) is the farthest from reaching its target.
Looking at individual car brands with market shares of 1% or larger, apart from Tesla, Volvo had the greatest over-compliance at 29 g CO2/km below its projected brand-level target for 2025 and was followed by Cupra (19 g CO2/km below target). While Audi’s target gap remains sizable at 30 CO2/km, that is a 3 g CO2/km reduction from the previous month. Ford (26 CO2/km) and Mercedes-Benz (24 CO2/km), also among the highest-emitting brands, reduced their target gaps by 2 CO2/km each. Nissan’s target gap increased by 3 CO2/km in March compared with the previous month, and reached 29 CO2/km.
Table 1. Share of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, full hybrid, and mild hybrid passenger cars by manufacturer pool or large manufacturer not forming a pool
Table 2. Fleet-average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and market share by manufacturer pool or large manufacturer not forming a pool
Table 3. Fleet-average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and market share by manufacturer group and brand
Passenger car registrations by country
Looking at the major European markets, total passenger car registrations in France and the Netherlands fell 15% in March compared with March 2024, and Italy surpassed France in market size. New registrations increased 24% in Spain and 19% in Czechia compared with the same month in the previous year. Combined BEV and PHEV market shares averaged 24% in Europe in March 2025, up 1 percentage point from February 2025. Norway (95%), Denmark (68%), Sweden (58%), and the Netherlands (53%) all had shares above 50%, and Belgium (41%), Austria (30%), and Germany (27%) also recorded combined BEV and PHEV market shares above the average for Europe. Among the largest markets, the highest increase in BEV registrations occurred in Czechia, Spain, and Italy, where registrations increased 261%, 94%, and 78%, respectively, in March 2025 compared with March 2024; meanwhile, registrations in France and the Netherlands decreased 14% compared with March 2024. Over 42,000 BEVs were registered last month in Germany, Europe’s largest market, and that was up 35% over March 2024. The largest year-over-year increase in PHEV registrations was in Czechia (+90% over March 2024) and HEV registrations increased the most in Spain (+34%). Shares of MHEVs were highest in Italy (32%) and Poland (30%) in March 2025, and they are gaining popularity in France and Spain, where registrations increased 59% (France) and 52% (Spain) in March 2025 compared with March 2024.
Figure 3. Share of plug-in hybrid and battery electric passenger cars by country, including information on market size (total new car registrations)
Note: “Other” includes EEA countries not individually highlighted in the figure, except for Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, and Malta.
Table 4. New passenger car registrations by country
Table 5. New battery electric, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, and mild hybrid passenger car registrations by country
Table 6. Share of new battery electric, plug-in hybrid, full hybrid, and mild hybrid passenger cars by country
Passenger car registrations by owner
Private cars made up over 40% of new registrations in Europe in 2024, and these were followed by company fleets with 36%, and then car dealers and manufacturers and short-term rentals, which made up 14% and 9% of the total registrations, respectively. Short-term rental registrations fluctuated more than other owner types; they ranged from nearly 13% of sales in May 2024 to only 5% in October 2024. In February 2025, the split of new registrations by owner type largely mirrored that of February 2024.
Figure 4. New passenger car registrations by owner for 19 select European countries
Van registrations
Over 346,000 new vans were registered in Europe in the first quarter of 2025, a 13% decrease over the same period in 2024. Of newly registered vans, 9% were battery electric; in the first quarter of 2024, 6% of new vans were battery electric. Nissan (13%), the Volkswagen pool (12%), Toyota (11%), and the Renault (10%) and Stellantis (9%) pools all had BEV shares at or above the European average; the Mercedes-Benz (7%) and Ford (4%) pools and Iveco (1%) were below the European average. Looking at the largest markets, shares of battery electric vans increased by 1 to 2 percentage points in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. None of the manufacturers are currently on track to meet their CO2 targets for 2025 and the average target gap is 18 g CO2/km. Among manufacturers and manufacturer pools, Iveco and the Ford and Mercedes-Benz pools are currently the farthest from their 2025 CO2 targets, with respective target gaps of 35, 33, and 32 g CO2/km.
Table 7. Share of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, full hybrid, and mild hybrid vans by manufacturer pool or large manufacturer not forming a pool
Table 8. Fleet-average CO2 emissions of new vans and market share by manufacturer pool or large manufacturer not forming a pool
Table 9. New van registrations by country
Table 10. Share of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, full hybrid, and mild hybrid vans by country
Charging infrastructure development
Over 1 million public charging points were installed in Europe by the end of the first quarter of 2025, up from around 950,000 at the end of 2024. For alternating current (AC) charging, this represents a 28% increase compared with the same point in 2024. Direct current (DC) charging points showed even greater growth, increasing 54% compared with the first quarter of 2024. Approximately 81% of Europe’s public charging points supply AC, and the remaining 19% supply DC. Denmark recorded the largest growth in DC chargers by the end of the first quarter of 2025, +104% compared with the first quarter of 2024, and was followed by Belgium, which recorded a substantial increase in both DC and AC publicly accessible charging points (+92% and +60%, respectively). There were on average about 7.2 publicly accessible 22 kW-equivalent charging points installed per thousand passenger cars and vans on the road in Europe at the end of March 2025, up from 6.5 at the end of 2024. With nearly 46 publicly accessible 22 kW-equivalent charging points per thousand passenger cars and vans, Norway continues to lead Europe in charging infrastructure and is followed by Iceland (35), Denmark (30), and Sweden (22). Italy (3) and Spain (3) remain well below the European average.
Figure 5. 22 kW-equivalent publicly accessible charging points installed per thousand passenger cars and vans, by type of power output and country by the end of March 2025
Note: The width of the bars provides information on passenger car and van stock size estimates as of the end of 2024. 22 kW-equivalent is used to account for different power outputs while allowing for comparison among countries.
Table 11. Number of publicly accessible charging points installed, by country and type of power output
Definitions, data sources, methodology, and assumptions
- Manufacturer pools: Automakers are allowed to form pools to jointly comply with CO2 targets. For this publication, the 2025 pools listed in the European Commission’s “M1 pooling list” (cars) and “N1 pooling list” (vans), version of 15 March 2025, are used. 2024 closed pools from these lists have been carried over into 2025, even in the absence of a 2025 formal declaration, as they typically remain stable due to ongoing commercial affiliations (e.g., the BMW, Hyundai, and Kia pools). In contrast, only open pools that have been confirmed for 2025 are included, as their composition tends to change more frequently than closed pools. Additionally, it is assumed that the Renault Group forms closed passenger car and van pools in 2025 with its affiliated manufacturers. For cars, the main brands are: BMW pool (BMW, Mini), Hyundai pool (Hyundai), Kia pool (Kia), Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar pool (Mercedes-Benz, Polestar, Smart, Volvo), Renault pool (Dacia, Renault), Tesla-Stellantis-Toyota pool (Citroën, Fiat, Ford, Jeep, Mazda, Opel, Peugeot, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota), Volkswagen (Audi, Cupra, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda, VW). For vans, the main brands are: Ford pool (Ford), Mercedes-Benz pool (Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Fuso), Renault pool (Renault), Stellantis pool (Citroën, Fiat, Opel, Peugeot), Volkswagen pool (MAN, Volkswagen). Nissan and SAIC are large passenger car manufacturers not part of a pool. Similarly, Iveco, Nissan, and Toyota are large van manufacturers not part of a pool.
- Abbreviations: AC = alternating current; CO2 = carbon dioxide emissions; DC = direct current; g/km = grams per kilometer; YTD = year-to-date; ZLEV = zero- and low-emission vehicle.
- Technical scope: This publication focuses on new passenger car and van registrations. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are powered exclusively by an electric motor, with no additional source of propulsion. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) combine a conventional combustion engine with an electric propulsion system that can be recharged via an external power source. Hybrid electric vehicles here include full hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs). HEVs and MHEVs integrate two propulsion systems, usually a combustion engine and an electric propulsion system that cannot be recharged via an external power source. Key differences between HEVs and MHEVs are the system voltage and system power. This enables HEVs to drive partially pure electric, while the electric propulsion system of MHEVs is typically only capable of assisting the combustion engine. For more on HEVs and MHEVs see: Jan Dornoff et al., Mild-Hybrid Vehicles: A Near Term Technology Trend for CO2 Emissions Reduction (International Council on Clean Transportation, 2022), https://theicct.org/publication/mild-hybrid-emissions-jul22/.
- Geographic scope: The European CO2 regulation for vehicle manufacturers applies to all countries of the European Economic Area (EEA). This includes the 27 Member States of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Data for new car and van registrations and shares of electric vehicles in this publication cover all of these countries, with the exception of Liechtenstein and Malta. Data for CO2 emission levels additionally omits Bulgaria and Romania. Charging infrastructure data are presented for the 27 EU members plus the four European Free Trade Association countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).
- Data sources: Dataforce (new vehicle registrations), Eco-Movement (charging points), European Environment Agency (vehicle mass and eco-innovation credits).
- Results may change over time: Registrations and/or CO2 data may be retrospectively updated by some of the national type-approval authorities. Similarly, charging infrastructure data may also be retrospectively updated by Eco-Movement. Historical values are regularly updated to reflect all latest data available.
- Test procedures: CO2 values are provided according to the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP).
- Flexible compliance mechanisms: To facilitate meeting their CO2 targets, manufacturers can make use of a number of compliance mechanisms: (1) Manufacturers can reduce their CO2 level by up to 6 g/km by deploying eco-innovation technologies. As a conservative estimate, we apply the 2023 level of eco-innovation CO2 emission reductions per brand. For more on the methodology used, see: Uwe Tietge, Peter Mock, and Jan Dornoff, Overview and Evaluation of Eco-Innovations in European Passenger Car CO2 Standards (International Council on Clean Transportation, 2018), https://theicct.org/publications/eco-innovations-european-passenger-car-co2-standards; (2) If a manufacturer’s ZLEV share exceeds 25% (cars) or 17% (vans), its CO2 target is increased by the same number of percentage points, up to a maximum of 5%. This adjustment is referred to as the ZLEV factor, while the target before adjustment is called the manufacturer reference target. The manufacturer target is calculated by multiplying the reference target by the ZLEV factor. ZLEVs are BEVs and vehicles with CO2 emissions of 50 g/km (WLTP) or less. For details on the ZLEV factor mechanism, see: Jan Dornoff, CO2 Emission Standards for New Passenger Cars and Vans in the European Union (International Council on Clean Transportation, 2023), https://theicct.org/publication/eu-co2-standards-cars-vans-may23/.
- Mass-based targets: For each manufacturer or manufacturer pool, a specific 2025 CO2 target value applies, depending on the average WLTP test mass of the new vehicles registered. For this publication, we assume the average WLTP test mass per manufacturer remains the same as in 2023; the average 2023 BEV and non-BEV test mass for each manufacturer was calculated based on EEA data and then weighted according to their year-to-date 2025 BEV market shares. For more on the methodology used, see: Uwe Tietge, Jan Dornoff, and Peter Mock, CO2 Emissions From New Passenger Cars in Europe: Car Manufacturers’ Performance in 2023 (International Council Clean Transportation, 2024), https://theicct.org/publication/co2-emissions-new-pv-europe-car-manufacturers-performance-2023-sept24/.
- Charging point: As defined in the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, a charging point “means a fixed or mobile interface that allows for the transfer of electricity to an electric vehicle, which, whilst it may have one or several connectors to accommodate different connector types, is capable of recharging only one electric vehicle at a time, and excludes devices with a power output less than or equal to 3.7 kW the primary purpose of which is not recharging electric vehicles.”
- Owner types: This publication considers four types of owners: private cars, company fleets, short-term rentals, and car dealers and manufacturers. The private car category includes all registrations under private individuals, including those of self-employed persons, provided the vehicles are not registered under a company name. Private leasing is also included. Company fleets encompass all vehicles registered to companies, excluding those intended for resale or rental. This category includes company and public administration fleets, commercial long-term rentals, commercial leases, taxis, driving schools, diplomats, etc. The size of the fleet and the extent to which the vehicles are used privately are not considered relevant. The short-term rentals type covers all registrations under large or small national and local rental companies. It also covers all vehicles flagged by authorities as being used for self-drive rental purposes. The car dealers and manufacturers type includes all vehicles registered by car dealers and manufacturers. For automakers, this includes vehicles used for press purposes as well as those for their employees. New registrations data by owner type is aggregated for the following 19 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.
This publication is a collaboration between the ICCT, IMT-IDDRI, and ECCO think tank.