Thermal vehicles sales down sharply in China and Europe, more moderate in the USA and Japan
- Global sales of thermal cars – internal combustion engines, possibly with low hybridisation (MHEV) – reached 12,343,640 units in the first four months of 2025, which represents a decrease of 4.2% compared to the first four months of 2024, when they reached 12,889,899 units. This represents a decrease of 546,259 fewer units registered in the first four months of 2025, while the global car market is stable.
- China is the country that has seen the sharpest decline in sales of combustion-engine vehicles over the past five years, demonstrating its ability to transition from combustion engines to hybrid and electric engines more quickly than others. Since the summer of 2024, the share of combustion-engine vehicles has declined from 95% in 2019 to 50% of the Chinese market, while sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have exploded over the past five years.
- Europe recorded the second most significant decline in sales of thermal cars behind China, since the share of thermal cars fell from 95% in 2019 to around 65% in 2025. Sales of battery electric cars, plug-in hybrids or non-plug-in hybrids having been able to establish themselves on the European market, but less strongly than in China.
- The United States is showing a more moderate decline in sales of thermal cars, their market share having fallen from more than 95% in 2019 to around 80% in 2025, with battery electric and hybrid cars having less success than in China or Europe.
- Japan finally shows a very moderate drop in sales of thermal cars, their share having fallen from a little over 70% in 2019 to a little over 60%, battery electric and rechargeable hybrid cars having no success due in particular to the domination of full hybrid vehicles already well established in 2019 (more than 25% of market share).