In full-year 2023, new passenger vehicle registrations in Europe, including the EU, the UK, and EFTA countries, increased by nearly 14% to over 12.8 million car sales.
January to December 2023: car sales in the European Union, Britain, and EFTA increased by 13.7% to 12,847,481 vehicles — the first increase in sales in four years but still well below pre-pandemic levels. New car sales in Europe increased each month of the year in 2023 except in December when sales were slightly weaker. The five largest country markets all had positive sales. Battery-electric vehicles (BEV) took a 14.6% market share in the EU to outsell diesel cars (13.6%). Volkswagen remained the best-selling car brand in Europe in 2023.
Latest European Car Market Statistics 2023: By Country, Brands, Models, Electric Models and months: January, February, Q1, April, May, June (HY), July, August, September, Q3, October; 2022, 2021 & 2020.
European New Car Market in 2023 (Full Year)
In 2023, new passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union, the UK, and EFTA countries increased by 13.7% to 12,847,481 cars compared to 11,286,939 cars in 2022. This expansion of the European new car market followed three consecutive years of weaker sales. The total European new car market in 2023 was still almsot 3 million vehicles smaller than in 2019.
In the European Union, new passenger vehicle registrations increased by a slightly stronger 13.9% to 10,547,716 passenger vehicle registrations in 2023. However, it should be noted that 2022 had the weakest car sales in the EU since 1992 when only 9.2 million vehicles were registered.
New Passenger Vehicle Registrations in Europe by Year
New passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union, Great Britain, and the EFTA countries were as follows from 2007 to 2023:
| Year | Sales EU, UK & EFTA | % Change |
| 2023 | 12,847,481 | 13.7 |
| 2022 | 11,286,939 | -4.1 |
| 2021 | 11,774,885 | -1.5 |
| 2020 | 11,961,182 | -24.3 |
| 2019 | 15,805,752 | 1.2 |
| 2018 | 15,624,486 | 0.0 |
| 2017 | 15,631,687 | 3.3 |
| 2016 | 15,131,719 | 6.5 |
| 2015 | 14,202,024 | 9.2 |
| 2014 | 13,006,451 | 5.4 |
| 2013 | 12,308,215 | -1.8 |
| 2012 | 12,527,912 | -7.8 |
| 2011 | 13,573,550 | -1.4 |
| 2010 | 13,785,698 | -4.9 |
| 2009 | 14,481,545 | -1.6 |
| 2008 | 14,712,158 | -7.8 |
| 2007 | 15,958,871 | 1.1 |
Note: Data not necessarily taking the addition of smaller new EU members into account for historical figures.
Car Sales in Europe by Month in 2023
According to the ACEA, car sales in the European Union were as follows by month in 2023:
In December 2023, the 16 months of expansion in new passenger car vehicle registrations in Europe came to an end but sales were only moderaltely weaker and largely attributed to very strong sales in December 2022. The outlook for the European new car market remained strong.
New Car Sales in the EU by Power Source
New car sales in the European Union by power source were as follows in 2023:
Petrol remained by far the most popular fuel source for new cars in the EU in 2023 with a 35.5% marke share. Most hybrid electricre and PHEV also use petrol. Battery-electric vehicles (BEV) took a 14.6% market share to outsell diesel cars (13.6%).
New Passenger Vehicle Registrations by European Country in 2023
New passenger vehicle registrations per European Union, the UK, and EFTA country were as follows in full-year 2023 according to the ACEA:
| Country | Sales 2023 | Sales 2022 | % Change |
| Austria | 239,150 | 215,047 | 11.2 |
| Belgium | 476,675 | 366,303 | 30.1 |
| Bulgaria | 37,724 | 28,680 | 31.5 |
| Croatia | 57,694 | 43,928 | 31.3 |
| Cyprus | 14,740 | 11,628 | 26.8 |
| Czechia | 221,419 | 192,084 | 15.3 |
| Denmark | 172,798 | 148,282 | 16.5 |
| Estonia | 22,820 | 20,426 | 11.7 |
| Finland | 87,502 | 81,695 | 7.1 |
| France | 1,774,723 | 1,529,035 | 16.1 |
| Germany | 2,844,609 | 2,651,357 | 7.3 |
| Greece | 134,484 | 105,283 | 27.7 |
| Hungary | 107,720 | 111,524 | -3.4 |
| Ireland | 122,310 | 105,398 | 16.0 |
| Italy | 1,565,331 | 1,316,926 | 18.9 |
| Latvia | 19,083 | 16,824 | 13.4 |
| Lithuania | 27,528 | 25,496 | 8.0 |
| Luxembourg | 49,151 | 42,094 | 16.8 |
| Malta | 7,200 | 6,409 | 12.3 |
| Netherlands | 369,791 | 312,075 | 18.5 |
| Poland | 475,032 | 419,749 | 13.2 |
| Portugal | 199,623 | 157,295 | 26.9 |
| Romania | 144,611 | 129,328 | 11.8 |
| Slovakia | 88,003 | 78,841 | 11.6 |
| Slovenia | 48,809 | 46,339 | 5.3 |
| Spain | 949,359 | 813,376 | 16.7 |
| Sweden | 289,827 | 288,087 | 0.6 |
| EUROPEAN UNION | 10,547,716 | 9,263,509 | 13.9 |
| Iceland | 17,541 | 16,675 | 5.2 |
| Norway | 126,955 | 174,321 | -27.2 |
| Switzerland | 252,215 | 225,934 | 1.2 |
| EFTA | 396,711 | 416,930 | -4.8 |
| United Kingdom | 1,903,054 | 1,614,063 | 17.9 |
| EU + EFTA + UK | 12,847,481 | 11,294,502 | 13.7 |
Car Sales in European Countries in 2023 (Full Year)
In 2023, the new car markets in all EU countries, except Hungary, expanded. Car sales in Norway contracted by more than a quarter in 2023 to pull the whole EFTA market down.
Germany was again by far the largest single-country car market in Europe in 2023 but it was the only top-five country with sales below the market average. Of the large countries, Italy and the UK expanded the most.
Volkswagen remained the best-selling car brand in Europe in 2023.
Europe Car Sales Statistics
→  Latest European Car Sales Statistics
- Full-Year 2023: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Car Models
- Car Sales and Market Analysis 2023: January, February, Q1, April, May, June HY, July, August, September, October.
- 2023 (Q3): Car Sales by Country, Brands
- Half-Year 2023: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Models
- Full-Year 2022: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Models, Electric
