EU car market: hybrids are in the lead, diesel is preparing to leave the game

The European car market showed little growth in 2024 amid significant changes in the sales structure. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) increasingly overtook gasoline-powered vehicles in popularity, while electric vehicles, despite holding third place in the popularity ranking, experienced a decline in sales compared to the previous year, according to Polish analytical agency SAMAR .

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the EU automotive market ended 2024 with a small but positive result. The total number of new passenger car registrations increased by 0.8%, reaching 10.6 million units. The situation was mixed across countries: Spain showed a significant increase of 7.1%, while other major markets experienced declines – France (-3.2%), Germany (-1%) and Italy (-0.5%).

Particularly interesting changes occurred in the powertrain mix. Fully electric vehicles (BEVs) retained their third place among the most popular drive types in the EU, with a market share of 13.6% for the year. This surpassed the share of diesel cars, which fell to 11.9%. However, in December 2024, the number of electric vehicle registrations fell by 10.2%, mainly due to significant falls in Germany (-38.6%) and France (-20.7%).

The real winner of 2024 was hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which consistently outsold petrol cars in the last four months of the year. Their market share rose to 33.6% in December, up from 26.5% the previous year. Petrol cars, while still the largest part of the EU market with an annual share of 33.3%, saw registrations fall by 1.8% in December. HEVs, on the other hand, ended the year in second place with a share of around 31%.

The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) segment also showed growth of 4.9% in December, driven largely by France (up 44.9%) and Germany (up 6.8%). However, for 2024 as a whole, this segment experienced a decline of 6.8% compared to the previous year.

The largest reduction affected the segment of cars with diesel engines, whose share in December 2024 was only 9.8%, confirming the long-term trend of abandoning this type of drive in the European Union.

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