The European car market continued to rise in December, with electric vehicles still in the spotlight

While the industry body highlights the growing momentum in electric vehicle sales, it also notes that sales volumes within the European Union remain well below their pre-Covid-19 levels.

For FY 2025, new car sales in the EU rose 1.8% to 10,822,831 units.

In December, France was the only major European market to fall, with registrations down 5.8%, but demand also eased in Spain (-2%), bringing to an end a run of seven consecutive months of double-digit growth.

Registrations, however, rose 9.7% in Germany, 3.9% in the UK and 2.3% in Italy.

By powertrain, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continued to accelerate sharply (+51% in December), to the point that they now represent a 17.4% market share, compared with 13.6% at the end of 2024.

Petrol cars continued their decline (-18.7% last year), as did diesel engines (-24.2% in 2025).

In December, Stellantis managed to stand out with registrations up 6.8% in December, but were down 4.7% over the full year. Renault’s registrations fell 1.8%, driven by a drop in Dacia sales (-12.5% in December).

Amongst other major carmakers, Volkswagen posted the sector’s best performance in December (+10.6%) thanks to strong showings from its Audi and Cupra brands.

On the stockmarket, the automotive index, the STOXX Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts, was down 0.7% after the figures were released, compared with a gain of 0.3% for the broader STOXX Europe 600. The sector index is down over 6% this year.

Amongst individual stocks, Stellantis was down close to 0.9%, Renault fell 1.1% and VW lost 1.4% in Frankfurt.