Fully electric vehicle sales in EU overtake petrol for first time in December

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Fully electric car sales in December overtook petrol for the first time in the European Union, even as policymakers proposed to loosen emissions regulations, data showed on Tuesday.

U.S. battery-electric brand Tesla TSLA.O continued to lose market share to competitors including China's BYD 002594.SZ and Europe's best-selling group Volkswagen VOWG.DE, data from the European auto lobby ACEA showed.

Car sales throughout Europe sustained a sixth straight month of year-on-year growth, with overall registrations, a proxy for sales, hitting their highest volumes in five years in Europe in 2025, though they remained well below pre-pandemic levels.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Europe's car industry faces challenges including competition from China, U.S. import tariffs and difficulties in profitably meeting domestic regulations for EV adoption.

The EU unveiled in December a plan to abandon an effective 2035 ban on combustion engine cars, bowing to calls from struggling carmakers. Electric transport groups argue a swift EV transition is necessary to curb CO2 emissions.

Analysts expect EVs to gain popularity despite the policy relaxation.

BY THE NUMBERS

Sales in the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose by 7.6% to 1.2 million cars in December and by 2.4% to 13.3 million overall in 2025, ACEA data showed.

Registrations at Volkswagen and Stellantis STLAM.MI rose 10.2% and 4.5%, respectively, that month, while they fell 2.2% at Renault RENA.PA.

Registrations at Tesla fell 20.2%, but rose 229.7% at BYD.

Total EU car sales rose 5.8% to almost one million vehicles in December, and by 1.8% to 10.8 million in the year.

December registrations of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric cars were up 51%, 36.7% and 5.8%, respectively, to account collectively for 67% of the bloc's registrations, up from 57.8% in December 2024.