Market Spotlight
European Market Monitor: Cars and vans (February 2025)
Passenger car registrations
The average share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) among total new registrations in Europe remained stable at 16% in February 2025, the same as in January 2025. The KG Mobility manufacturer pool had the highest BEV share in February (41%), and was followed by the BMW (25%), Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar (23%), Kia (22%), Volkswagen (18%), and Hyundai (17%) pools. The Tesla-Stellantis-Toyota pool was below the average (13% BEV share) and two additional brands, Suzuki and Honda, entered the pool in February. Similarly, the BEV share of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi pool (11%) was below the market average. Meanwhile, for Hyundai, the BEV share notably increased by 4 percentage points from January to February 2025 and it is above the European average. Shares of full hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) remained constant—13% average for the European market—and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi pool (29%) increased its share by 3 percentage points compared with the previous month. The Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar and BMW pools led in new registration shares of mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs) at 38% and 36%, respectively, and Tesla-Stellantis-Toyota also had a high share, 34% (up from 29% in January 2025). The share of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in new registrations in Europe stayed constant at 7%.
Figure 1. Share of battery electric in new passenger car registrations in Europe
Figure 2. Average CO2 emissions of manufacturer pools compared with their estimated 2025 targets, 2025 YTD
Note: Average emissions include compliance credits. All CO2 values are estimates according to the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). See the section on definitions, data sources, methodology, and assumptions for details.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions among manufacturer pools averaged 103 g CO2/km in February 2025. As a result, manufacturing pools remain 10 g CO2/km from the average target of 93 g CO2/km for 2025. After two months, KG Mobility and BMW are currently in compliance with their 2025 targets, while Volkswagen (17 g CO2/km above) is the farthest from reaching its target.
Looking at individual car brands with market shares of 1% or greater, apart from Tesla, Volvo had the greatest over-compliance at 30 g CO2/km below its projected brand-level target for 2025 and was followed by Cupra (17 g CO2/km below target). Meanwhile, Audi (33 g CO2/km above target), Mazda (+30), Ford (+28), SEAT (+27), and Nissan and Mercedes-Benz (both +26) are currently the farthest from their projected brand-level targets for 2025.
Table 1. Share of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, full hybrid, and mild hybrid passenger cars by manufacturer pool
Table 2. Fleet-average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and market share by manufacturer pool
Table 3. Fleet-average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and market share by manufacturer group
Passenger car registrations by country
Looking at the major European markets, total passenger car registrations in Belgium and the Netherlands fell 8% compared with February 2024, while registrations in Spain increased 12%. Combined BEV and PHEV market shares averaged 23% in Europe in February 2025, down 1 percentage point from January. Norway (97%), Denmark (67%), Sweden (56%), and the Netherlands (51%) all had shares above 50%, and Belgium (41%), Ireland (29%), and Germany (26%) also recorded combined BEV and PHEV market shares above the average for Europe. Among the largest markets, the highest increases in BEV registrations occurred in Czechia and Spain, where shares increased 66% and 61%, respectively, in February 2025 compared with February 2024. Nearly 36,000 BEVs were registered last month in Germany, Europe’s largest market, and that was up 31% over February 2024. Over the same period, PHEV registration shares increased the most in Belgium (+67%) and HEV shares increased the most in Spain (+56%). Additionally, MHEVs are gaining popularity in France, where sales reached 23% in February 2025, up 86% from February 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. Data for Portugal, which is categorized under “Other,” is for January 2025 only.
Table 4. New passenger car registrations by country
Table 5. Share of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, full hybrid, and mild hybrid passenger cars 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 to only 5% in October 2024. In January 2025, the split of new registrations by owner type mirrored that of January 2024, with private cars accounting for 42% – a 2 percentage point increase from the previous year.
Figure 4. New passenger car registrations by owner for 19 select European countries
Spotlight: Italy
From May to December 2024, the Italian government provided purchase incentives for BEVs ranging from €6,000 to €13,750 per vehicle, with the highest amounts reserved for lower-income buyers and those scrapping older vehicles of Euro 4 emission standards or lower. Part of the Ecobonus scheme, these incentives were well received by consumers and the allocated €240 million was exhausted within hours of the program’s launch. In addition to BEVs, Ecobonus also included dedicated funds for PHEVs and conventional cars emitting up to 135 g CO2/km; unlike the BEV incentives, these funds lasted for most of the program’s duration. Even after the purchase incentive program ended, electric vehicle shares in Italy remained higher than 1 year before. In February 2025, approximately 5.0% (6,925 vehicles) of all new passenger car registrations in Italy were BEVs. This represents a 38% increase compared with February 2024. Including January 2025 registrations (6,721 vehicles, +132% compared with January 2024), total BEV sales in the first two months of 2025 amounted to 13,646 units, marking a 73% increase over the same period in 2024. For PHEVs, the market share in February was 4.5% (6,186 units sold), up 32% compared with February 2024 and up 26% over the first two months in 2024.
Figure 5. Share of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles in new passenger car registrations in Italy
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 are defined according to the European Commission’s “M1 pooling list,” version of 15 March 2025. The main brands are: BMW pool (BMW, Mini), Hyundai pool (Hyundai), KG Mobility pool (Great Wall Motor, Xpeng), Kia pool (Kia), Mercedes-Volvo-Polestar pool (Mercedes-Benz, Polestar, Smart, Volvo), Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi pool (Dacia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault), Tesla-Stellantis-Toyota pool (Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Lancia, Leapmotor, Lexus, Mazda, Opel, Peugeot, Subaru, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota), Volkswagen (Audi, Cupra, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda, VW).
- Abbreviations: CO2 = carbon dioxide emissions; g/km = grams per kilometer; ZLEV = zero- and low-emission vehicle.
- Technical scope: This publication focuses on new passenger car 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 registrations and shares of electric vehicles in this publication cover all of these countries, with the exception of Liechtenstein, Malta, and Portugal. Data for CO2 emission levels additionally omits Bulgaria and Romania.
- Data sources: Dataforce (new vehicle registrations), 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.
- 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%, 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 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 pool remains the same as in 2023; the average 2023 BEV and non-BEV test mass for each manufacturer was calculated based on European Environment Agency 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/.
- 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.