2025 (March): new passenger vehicle registrations in Europe increased by 3%, with Q1 car sales flat but battery electric car sales up by a quarter.
Car sales in Europe increased moderately at the start of 2025 with battery-electric vehicles gaining market share. Most of the car sales gains in March 2025 accrued to the Volkswagen and Renault Groups. In March 2025, the Peugeot 205 was the top-selling car model in Europe, although the Dacia Sandero remained Europe’s favorite car during the first quarter of 2025.
Latest European Car Market Statistics: 2025: January, February, March, (Q1); 2024 (Full Year): Market, By Country, Electric, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Models; 2023-2007.
European New Car Market in 2025 (March & Q1)
In March 2025, the European new car market, including 28 countries from the EU, EFTA, and UK, expanded with new passenger cars totalling 1,423,340 units, up by 3.2% compared to March 2024. These results offset the declines recorded in January and February, allowing for first quarter car sales of 3,383,986 vehicles — only 628 more than the 3,384,614 units registered in 2024 (Q1).
→ See also: 2025 (Q1) Europe: Car Sales per European Country — first quarter sales contracted by 0.4% to 3,382,057 cars if all the EU, EFTA, and UK countries are included.
In contrast, new battery-electric passenger vehicle registration in Europe (EU, EFTA, UK) increased by 23% to 240,891 cars in March 2025 and by by 28% to 570,943 all-electric cars in the first quarter for a market share of 17%, according to JATO Dynamics.
→ See 2025 (March & Q1) Europe: Best-Selling Electric Car Models and Brands for more details.
Best-Selling Carmakers in Europe in 2025 (March)
The top car manufacturing groups in Europe in March 2025, according to JATO, were:
Only three of Europe’s ten largest car manufacturing groups managed to increase sales in March 2025: Volkswagen, Renault, and Ford. All three increased sales by 12% to gain market share. Mercedes-Benz was the worst performer, although Stellantis had the largest volume declines.
The Geely Group (Volvo) and BMW had the largest percentage of electric cars while Mercedes-Benz was the only top carmaker with more than a third of new cars fitted with diesel engines.
→ See also: 2025 (Q1) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands
Top Ten Best-Selling Car Models in Europe in 2025 (March)
The ten best-selling car models in Europe in March 2025 according to JATO were:
In March 2025, the Peugeot 205 was Europe’s favorite car model ahead of the Dacia Sandero, which remained the top-selling car model in Europe for the first quarter of 2025.
Among the top 10, the Volkswagen Tiguan saw a 42% increase in registrations, while the Peugeot 2008, and Opel/Vauxhall Corsa also performed well. Notably, these vehicles failed to make the top 10 in March 2024, when positions were held by the Tesla Model Y, Citroen C3, and Toyota Yaris.
Europe Car Sales Statistics
→ Latest European Car Sales Statistics
- 2025 Market Analysis: January, February, March
- 2025 (Q1): Car Sales by Country, Best-Selling Brands, Electric Cars
- 2025 (Outlook) Europe: Car and Electric Car Sales Forecasts
- 2024 (Full Year): Market Analysis, Car Sales by Country, Electric Sales by Country, Best-Selling Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Models
- 2024: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
- Full-Year 2023: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Car Models
