Electrified vehicles drive uptick in new car sales
New car sales in the EU increased by four per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Hybrid vehicles proved the most popular among car buyers during the period with sales recorded at 1,089,421 units, which equates to a 38.6% market share.
Meanwhile, pure electric vehicle sales rose to 546,937 units, making up 19.4% of the market, which is an increase of 15.2% year-on-year.
Hybrids accounted for 9.5% of all sales, up from 7.6% last year, with 268,344 transactions.
Against this, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 30.3%, down from 38.2% in the first three months of 2025.
The ACEA reported that 636,502 petrol cars were sold from January to March, making up 22.6% of the market compared to 28.7% last year, while diesel sales fell by 15.7% to just 7.7% of the total sales volume.
