- The Rate of diesel vehicles (share of diesel cars in total sales) in Europe continued to decline in 2013 and 2012. Indeed,  since 2012 sales of diesel cars have started to decline in Europe, brining the market share of these vehicles down (compared to petrol, hybrid engines and the electric cars).

- The share of sales of diesel cars in European sales as a whole hadn't stopped increasing since the 90s, except in 2009, when the rate fell to 47.5% due to scrappage schemes that promoted throughout Europe the sales of petrol cars from segments A and B.

- The rate of diesel vehicles in Europe has risen from 22.3% in 1996 to 55.7% in 2011 and fell back to 55.2% in 2012 and to 53.3% in 2013. All countries saw the rates of diesel cars decline in 2012 and 2013, except for Portugal, Italy and Greece.

- The decline in the share of diesel cars in most European countries is due to several factors: the decrease in kilometres travelled by drivers, the reduced gap between the price of petrol and diesel fuels, the decision made by carmakers to gradually abandon diesel engines on cars from segment A, the introduction of tougher pollution standards leading to a rise in the price of diesel cars compared to petrol cars and finally the technological advances that have improved the yields of petrol engines.