ISTANBUL

The European passenger car market grew by 1.3% in April compared to the same month last year, with 925,359 new automobile registrations, according to data released Tuesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Among the EU’s major car markets, Spain led with a 7.1% increase, followed by Italy at 2.7%. However, France and Germany bucked the trend, posting declines of 5.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

Electric vehicles continued to drive market growth. Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales surged 34.1% year-on-year in April, reaching 145,341 units and accounting for 15.7% of total new car sales. Germany saw a 53.5% rise in BEV sales, while Italy and Czechia recorded even higher gains of 108.2% and 110.8%, respectively.

Hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) further cemented their dominance, accounting for 34.7% of the EU market in April. Registrations of HEVs soared 20.8% to 320,725 units.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) also showed robust growth, with sales rising 31.2% to 81,554 units.

In contrast, traditional internal combustion engine vehicles saw sharp declines. Petrol car registrations fell 20.6%, dropping their market share to 28.3%.

Diesel car registrations fared worse, plummeting by 24.4%, reducing their market share to 9.6% in April. Double-digit declines were recorded in most EU markets.