Demand for new passenger cars the EU increased by 5.3% in August, to 677,786 units, marking a second consecutive month of positive growth.
Among the major national markets, Spain posted the strongest performance (+17.2%), Germany rose by +5.0% and France by +2.2%, while Italy fell −2.7% (67,322 registrations, about 1,8 k less than in August 2024).
Eight months into the year, the European car market edged down by 0.1%, with 7,168,848 units overall. Spain once again performed the best (+14.6%), while all other main markets contracted: France -7.1%; Italy -3.7% (with 1,041,120 registrations, almost 40 k less compared to the same period last year); Germany -1.7%.
Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 15.8% of the market in Jan–Aug (1,132,603 units), hybrid-electric models remained the most popular at 34.7% (2,485,069 units), and plug-in hybrids rose to 8.8% (631,783). Petrol registrations fell sharply (down 19.7% YTD; 2,012,580 units, 28.1% share) and diesel declined by 25.7% (9.4% share).