European Market Monitor: Cars and Vans (September 2025)

Manufacturer pools: Automakers are allowed to form pools to jointly comply with CO₂ targets. For this publication, the 2025 pools are defined according to the European Commission’s “M1 pooling list” (cars), version of 15 September 2025, as well as the “Declaration of intent to form Open Pools” (cars), version of 17 October 2025, and the “N1 pooling list” (vans), version of 21 August 2025. The 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, and that the Mercedes-Benz Group forms a closed van pool with its affiliated manufacturers. For cars, the main brands are: BMW pool (BMW, Mini), Hyundai pool (Hyundai), Kia pool (Kia), Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar-Smart pool (Mercedes- Benz, Polestar, Smart, Volvo), Nissan pool (BYD, Nissan), Renault pool (Dacia, Renault), Tesla pool (Citroën, Fiat, Ford, Jeep, Mazda, Opel, Peugeot, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota), Volkswagen pool (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), Toyota pool (Toyota), Volkswagen pool (MAN, Volkswagen). SAIC is a large passenger car manufacturer not part of a pool. Similarly, Iveco and Nissan 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, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia.

Data sources: Dataforce (new vehicle registrations), Eco-Movement (charging points), European Environment Agency (vehicle mass and eco-innovation credits). Historical values are regularly updated to reflect all latest data available.

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.

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 2024 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/.

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.