EU Auto Market Sees 67% Diesel Drop Amid 45-Fold EV Surge
Luxembourg, Friday, 20 February 2026.
New Eurostat data reveals a structural overhaul of the EU car market: diesel registrations plummeted 67% while battery-electric vehicles surged forty-five-fold since 2014, signaling a decisive shift in the region’s energy transition.
A Decade of Disruption
The automotive landscape in the European Union has undergone a radical reconfiguration over the last ten years, according to the 2025 edition of ‘Key figures on European transport’ highlighted by Eurostat today, February 20, 2026 [1]. The data, which tracks registration trends from 2014 through 2024 across 20 EU nations representing 93% of new passenger cars, quantifies the rapid retreat of diesel technology [1]. While diesel-powered vehicles—including hybrids—saw registrations collapse by 67% over the decade, petrol-powered equivalents experienced a contrasting resurgence, climbing by 60% [1]. This divergence suggests that while the internal combustion engine is not yet obsolete, consumer preference has decisively shifted away from diesel, once a staple of European roadways.
The Electric Ascent
While the reshuffling of combustion engines is significant, the most striking metric is the exponential rise of electrification. Registrations for battery-only electric vehicles (BEVs) were 45 times higher in 2024 compared to 2014 [1]. In terms of market penetration, this represents a massive leap: BEVs moved from a negligible 0.3% of all new car registrations in 2014 to commanding a 13.9% share in 2024 [1]. This represents a market share growth of 13.6 percentage points over the period. Furthermore, vehicles utilizing other alternative fuels—such as liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), hydrogen, and biofuels—also posted growth, with registrations coming in 13% higher in 2024 than they were a decade prior [1].
Economic Backdrop and Environmental Imperatives
This transition in the automotive sector is unfolding against a backdrop of broader economic stabilization in the Eurozone’s industrial heartland. In Germany, a key hub for automotive manufacturing, the Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 53.1 points in February 2026, up from 52.1 in January [2]. Significantly, the manufacturing component of this index reached 52.3, a four-month high, indicating that the production sector is expanding despite the structural changes in vehicle types [2]. This economic activity is critical as the region attempts to balance industrial output with climate goals. According to the European Environment Agency’s 2025 report, road transport remains the primary source of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, making the shift toward electrification documented by Eurostat essential for meeting the continent’s zero-pollution targets [3].