2025 (Outlook) Europe: Car and Electric Car Sales Forecasts

2025 (Prediction): The VDA expects the European new car market to grow by 2% but battery-electric car sales in Europe will increase by 67%.

2025 (Prediction): The VDA expects the European new car market to grow by 2% but battery-electric car sales in Europe will increase by 67%.
© Audi AG

Total new passenger vehicle registration in Europe is predicted to increase by 2% to 13.2 million cars in 2025. New EU emission regulations will force carmakers to sell more electrified cars with the sales of battery-electric cars predicted to grow a hefty 67% to around 2,650,000 all-electric cars.

Latest European Car Market Statistics 2024 (Full Year): Market Analysis, Sales by Country, Electric, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Models; 2023-2007.

Electric Car Sales Forecast for Europe in 2025

The Verbandes der Automobilindustrie (VDA — Association of the Automotive Industry (in Germany) predicts that the total European new car market (EU and EFTA countries) in 2025 will grow by only 2% to 13.2 million vehicles.

However, the VDA forecasts a massive change in the composition of the market with a massive 49% increase in sales of electrified vehicles to 3.5 million cars. The growth in battery-electric vehicles (BEV or all-electric cars) will be 67% to 2,648,000 all-electric cars while the sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) in 2025 will increase by a more modest 14% to 883,000 PHEVs. The growth will be a result of EU emission regulations, which are forcing carmakers to sell more zero-emission vehicles or face heavy fines.

2025 (Prediction): The VDA expects the European new car market to grow by 2% but battery-electric car sales in Europe will increase by 67%.
Annual Electrified Cars Sales in the EU and EFTA including BEV and PHEV

Electric car sales in 2024 in Europe (EU, EFTA, UK) contracted by 1.3% to only 1,993,102 all-electric car sales for a market share of 15.4% and only 13.6% in the EU. Electric sales in Germany in 2024 contracted by 27.4% to only 380,609 electric cars for a market share of only 13.5% compared to 18.4% in 2023.

In contrast, British electric car sales in 2024 increased by 21.4% for a record market share of 19.6%. Britain was the largest electric car market in Europe in 2024, if only 1361 more BEVs than were sold in Germany. The UK electric car market is expected to grow strongly in 2025 but is not included in the VDA figures above.

BEV sales in Germany in 2025 are predicted to increase by 75% to 666,000 all-electric car sales.

Electric Vehicles and Charge Points in 2024

EU Country, Electric Cars and Total Cars, Charge Points in 2024
EU Country, Electric Cars and Total Cars, Charge Points in 2024

Despite the expected large expansion in electric car sales in Europe, most European Union countries remain woefully under-prepared with infrastructure lacking.

Germany and France have the largest number of electric cars currently on the road in Europe with 3.3 million and 1.85 million respectively but both countries have fewer charge points than the Netherlands with only 900,000 electric cars registered.

By mid-2024, a total of 10,400,047 electric cars on the road in Europe, out of a total of 286 million cars, could use just over 820,000 charge points in the EU.

2025 Car Sales Forecasts:

Europe Car Sales Statistics

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About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.