Meanwhile sales of electric trucks continued to rise marginally in some markets. However, their overall share of the market remains comparatively small, constrained by limited infrastructure and investment incentives, ACEA said.

New truck registrations in the EU fell to 155,367 units in the first six months of 2025, compared to 183,668 units in the first half of 2024.

This compares to a fall of 11.2% in new truck registrations in the UK in the same period.

The EU market for medium and heavy vehicles over 3.5 tonnes saw a marked fall during the period.

Among the large economies the sharpest drops were seen in Germany, down by 2.57% to 37,994 unit, followed by France, which fell by 19% to 23,167 units.

Spain took third position with just 14,044 units, a drop of 13.6% whilst Italy experienced a fall of 13.3% to 14,535 units.

Conversely, Lithuania recorded the strongest growth, more than doubling its truck registrations to 6,668 units; a 113.6% increase, compared to the same period last year, and Sweden’s truck market remained steady, declining by just 0.4% year-on-year to 3,043 units.

Despite the overall market downturn, the share of electric trucks in the EU increased significantly, rising by 46.1% to reach 5,568 units, but it remains just 3.6% of the market – up from 2.1% in the first half of 2024. This compares to the UK’s 82% increase to 1,142 units in the first half of the year.

The Netherlands saw a 187.6% year-on-year increase in electric truck registrations with 978 units. Germany and France also grew their share, wth 1,881 and 768 electric truck registrations respectively.

Smaller markets like Sweden (475 units) and Belgium (151 units) also showed strong growth with registration of 475 units and 151 units respectively.

Meanwhile, hybrid-electric trucks fell by 35.5% to 1,247 units, and trucks powered by alternative fuels such as LPG, CNG, and ethanol also declined sharply.

Diesel trucks remain dominant but their share continues to shrink. They made up 93.6% of new truck registrations in the EU in the period. However, diesel volumes fell by 17.0%, from 175,167 units in H1 2024 to 145,411 units this year.

This decline was mirrored in the wider EU/EFTA/UK market, where total diesel truck registrations dropped from 205,887 to 171,329 units, a fall of 16.8%.

In the UK, truck registrations dropped by 11.2%, falling to 23,907 units. Electric trucks saw an 82% increase to 1,142 units. Whilst a significant jump, this still represents a tiny share of the overall market.

The EFTA region (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland) experienced a smaller overall decline of 17%, totalling 4,656 units.

New EU van registrations fell by 13.2%, with the three largest markets contributing to the downturn.

Germany recorded the steepest drop with a 14.7% decline, followed by Francewith a 12% fall and Italy seeing an 11.7% drop.

Conversely, Spain saw an increase in registrations, rising by 11.2%.

Diesel remains the preferred choice for new van buyers in the EU in the first half of 2025.

However, registrations declined by 15.6% to 598,001 units, resulting in an 82% market share – a decrease from 84.3% in H1 2024.

Petrol models decreased by 29.8%, accounting for a 4.9% share. Electric vans now capture a 9.5% market share, an increase from 5.8% in the same period last year.

Hybrid van registrations grew by 7.1%, while only accounting for a 2.6% market share.

ACEA concluded: “The first half of 2025 proved challenging for the EU’s commercial vehicle market, marked by significant registration declines in key markets, amidst an already challenging economic context.

“While the electrically-chargeable share increased, the growth trajectory is still not fast enough as market uptake continues to be stymied by the near absence of essential enabling conditions.”