EU new car sales rise as electric vehicles gain share and gasoline cars fall

In the EU's first five months of the year, new car registrations increased 4% to 4.748 million. Battery‑electric vehicles (BEVs) reached 950,521 units, giving them a 20% market share, up from 15.3% a year earlier. The strongest growth was recorded in Italy (+75.7%), France (+55.4%) and Germany (+40.9%); Belgium saw a modest 2.8% rise.

Hybrid‑electric (HEV) vehicles also grew, lifting their share from 35.1% to 37.8%, while gasoline‑powered cars slipped from 28.5% to 22.4% and diesel from 9.5% to 7.6%.

Hungary mirrored the EU trend, registering 49,469 new cars, an 8.9% increase. BEV registrations there rose 51.8% to 5,936 units, plug‑in hybrids (PHEV) jumped 117.8% to 4,913, and HEVs rose 7.6% to 30,542.

Manufacturer performance varied: Volkswagen sales grew 1.5% to 1.267 million, Renault fell 6.2% to 485 k, Stellantis rose 5.7% to 795 k, BMW up 3.9% to 322 k, Mercedes‑Benz down 3.2% to 230 k, Hyundai up 2.7% to 334 k, Toyota up 2% to 336 k, Ford dropped 21.3% to 108 k, Tesla surged 77.3% to 89,180, and Chinese BYD climbed 158.9% to 99,578.