Overview
- Battery‑electric vehicles captured 22.6% of EU registrations in December, narrowly topping petrol at 22.5% as BEV sales jumped 51% year over year and petrol fell 19.2%.
- Electrified powertrains dominated December, with BEVs, plug‑in hybrids and hybrids together accounting for 67% of EU registrations after six straight months of growth.
- For full‑year 2025, hybrids were the largest segment at 34.5% of EU sales, petrol fell to 26.6%, and BEVs reached 17.4%; total EU registrations rose 1.8% to 10.8 million, still below pre‑pandemic levels.
- Competitive dynamics shifted sharply as BYD’s EU registrations surged 229.7% in December and tripled for the year, while Tesla’s EU market share and registrations declined markedly, including a 20.2% drop in December.
- The European Commission’s December proposal would allow limited combustion‑engine sales to continue under a 90% tailpipe CO2 reduction framework, a move supporters say protects competitiveness and critics say risks slowing the EV transition.