The region lost another 50k of diesel sales compared to June 2024, bringing the deficit in H1 of this year to 210k units. June’s diesel share of new car sales, with just Greece data not available at the time of writing, was 10.7% - the lowest value seen so far since diesel began its long decline.

Six of the 17 markets included in this analysis now have diesel shares below 5% while 11 have shares below 10%. Germany’s diesel market remains more than twice as large as the second placed country (Italy) but is now starting to fall significantly, dipping below a 20% share in June and losing 20k units of diesel car sales versus June 2024.

A key underlying reason is of course the requirement to work towards meeting the stricter EU CO₂ target which, though now averaged over the years 2025-2027, has precipitated an uptick in the region’s plug-in market so far this year. To June, BEV sales across Europe are up 30%
year-on-year.

After being broadly similar through 2023 and 2024, BEV sales have finally opened up a clear lead over diesel, spurred on by the changing EU CO₂ regulatory framework. It seems unlikely that diesel could ever outsell BEV from this point forward.

This article was first published on GlobalData’s dedicated research platform, the Automotive Intelligence Center.