News Center

European Auto Market | Analysis of the Automotive Market in April 2025: Accelerated Transformation of Market Structure
Source:芝能汽车 | Author:Brand Strategy Department | Published time: 2025-05-28 | 142 Views | Share:
In April 2025, the EU new vehicle market continued its recovery trend, with overall new vehicle registrations declining slightly by 1.2% year-on-year. However, new energy models delivered outstanding performance, demonstrating an accelerated transformation of the market structure.


● The market share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has risen to 15.3%, a significant increase from 12% in the same period last year, with cumulative sales reaching 558,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%. Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands were the core drivers of this growth.


● Hybrid electric vehicles remained the most popular powertrain type, accounting for 35.3% of the market share. Sales in the first four months exceeded 1.28 million units, a year-on-year increase of 20.8%, primarily driven by strong demand in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany.


● Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles also achieved 7.8% growth, increasing their share to 7.9%. Traditional internal combustion engine vehicles continued to lose ground.


● The market share of gasoline-powered vehicles plummeted from 35.6% to 28.6%, with registrations dropping 20.6% year-on-year; diesel vehicles saw a steeper decline, with registrations falling 24.4% and their market share shrinking to 9.6%.

Part 1: Overview of Europe

Countries in Europe can be visualized as follows:


● Top 10 countries by total sales:


  • Germany: 242,728 units

  • France: 138,696 units

  • Italy: 130,142 units

  • UK: 120,331 units

  • Spain: 98,522 units

  • Poland: 46,978 units

  • Belgium: 37,812 units

  • Netherlands: 27,157 units

  • Austria: 24,855 units

  • Sweden: 24,292 units


● Top 10 countries by BEV sales:


  • Germany: 45,535 units

  • France: 25,542 units

  • UK: 24,558 units

  • Belgium: 12,409 units

  • Norway: 10,942 units

  • Denmark: 9,567 units

  • Netherlands: 9,235 units

  • Sweden: 8,555 units

  • Spain: 6,835 units

  • Italy: 6,643 units


● Top 10 countries by plug-in hybrid sales:


  • Germany: 24,317 units

  • UK: 14,073 units

  • Spain: 9,122 units

  • France: 8,583 units

  • Italy: 7,818 units

  • Sweden: 6,829 units

  • Netherlands: 5,650 units

  • Belgium: 3,282 units

  • Portugal: 2,838 units

  • Poland: 2,561 units


● Top 10 countries by hybrid sales:


  • Germany: 67,379 units

  • France: 63,000 units

  • Italy: 61,216 units

  • UK: 44,488 units

  • Spain: 40,736 units

  • Poland: 22,760 units

  • Netherlands: 7,548 units

  • Austria: 7,135 units

  • Greece: 7,022 units

  • Switzerland: 6,841 units


Currently, hybrid vehicles still dominate the development trend in Europe. Only small Nordic countries have achieved higher electrification rates, while larger countries have relatively low electric vehicle penetration rates.


Penetration rates in key countries:


◎ Germany: 242,728 units, 28.8%, including 45,535 BEVs and 24,317 plug-in hybrids;
◎ France: 138,696 units, 24.6%, including 25,542 BEVs and 8,583 plug-in hybrids;
◎ Italy: 130,142 units, 10.3%, including 6,643 BEVs and 7,818 plug-in hybrids;
◎ UK: 120,331 units, 32.1%, including 24,558 BEVs and 14,073 plug-in hybrids;
◎ Spain: 98,522 units, 16.2%, including 6,835 BEVs and 9,122 plug-in hybrids;
◎ Poland: 46,978 units, 10.9%, including 2,552 BEVs and 2,561 plug-in hybrids;
◎ Belgium: 37,812 units, 41.4%, including 12,409 BEVs and 3,282 plug-in hybrids;
◎ Netherlands: 27,157 units, 54.8%, including 9,235 BEVs and 5,650 plug-in hybrids;
◎ Austria: 24,855 units, 33.1%, including 5,690 BEVs and 2,521 plug-in hybrids;

◎ Sweden: 24,292 units, 63.3%, including 8,555 BEVs and 6,829 plug-in hybrids.


Part 2

The European automotive market presents a rich and diverse competitive landscape.

Performance of major automotive groups:

◎ The Volkswagen Group has led far ahead with a 26.4% market share from January to April, selling 1,176,088 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%. Although its year-on-year growth slowed to 0.1% in April, its market share remained at 27.6%, demonstrating strong market dominance.


◎ The Stellantis Group showed slight decline, with a 15.5% market share from January to April, selling 691,121 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 9.6%. Its performance in April remained weak, with a 0.5% year-on-year decline.


The Renault Group and BMW Group stood out as growth highlights.
◎ The Renault Group sold 454,895 vehicles from January to April, holding a 10.2% market share, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, with a 1.1% growth in April, indicating a positive development trend.
◎ The BMW Group sold 317,260 vehicles from January to April, with a 7.1% market share, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%. In April, it even saw a significant 7.5% year-on-year growth, showing strong momentum.


Some groups faced challenges. The Toyota Group, Mercedes-Benz, and others experienced varying degrees of year-on-year declines from January to April and in April.
◎ The Toyota Group sold 322,161 vehicles from January to April, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%, with an 8.7% year-on-year decline in April.
◎ Mercedes-Benz sold 219,256 vehicles from January to April, a year-on-year decrease of 4.5%, with a 1.7% year-on-year decline in April.


Notably, the performance of SAIC Group and Tesla deserves attention.
◎ The SAIC Group sold 100,517 vehicles from January to April, holding a 2.2% market share, with a year-on-year growth of up to 31.2%, and a 24.5% year-on-year growth in April, continuously expanding its presence in the European market.
◎ Tesla, however, is shrinking, selling 61,320 vehicles from January to April, with a 1.4% market share, a year-on-year decrease of 38.8%, and an even steeper 49.0% year-on-year decline in April.