AUTONEWS

Global and European automotive industry in the first half of 2025

Thanks to the cooperation of the Serbian Association of New Vehicle and Parts Importers and the European Vehicle Manufacturers Association (ACEA), we are publishing an analysis of the economic and market results of the global and EU automotive industry in the first half of this year, which shows where the automotive industry is currently and in which direction it will go.

In the first part, we talk about passenger cars (category M1).

What did the analysis show?

1. NEW PASSENGER CAR REGISTRATION: H1 2025

Global...New passenger car registrations worldwide increased by 5% to 37.4 million units, with growth in China of 12%. North America had a growth of 2.5%. Europe recorded a decrease of 2.4%, of which the EU market decreased by 1.9%.

European Union (EU)...However, the results in the EU remained very uneven across member states. Spain continued to stand out as a growth driver, recording an increase of 13.9%, supported by strong consumer demand and government incentives. Poland also contributed positively, with registrations increasing by 3%. In contrast, the three largest markets, France (-7.9%), Germany (-4.7%) and Italy (-3.6%), recorded a decline. Taken together, these five markets represent more than 70% of total passenger car registrations in the EU.

By 30 June 2025, electric cars accounted for 15.6% of the EU market share, up from a low of 12.5% ​​in the first half of 2024. Hybrid car registrations continued to grow, accounting for 34.8% of the market. Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 37.8%, from 48.2% in the same period in 2024.

EFTA countries (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) led the way with a 49% share of electric cars in the first half of 2025, while Poland and Italy were at the top of hybrid purchases with 48.6% and 44.2%. The Netherlands has a 35% share of electric cars, Belgium 32.8%. Austria and Germany have almost the same market share of hybrids (28.1% and 28.5%) and electric cars (22% and 17.7%). France has 44.7% of new registrations of hybrid vehicles, with a 17.6% share of electric cars.

It is also interesting to look at which countries passenger cars are purchased from in the EU.

Germany produces 20% of passenger cars purchased in the EU. Spain follows with 13%, the Czech Republic (9%), France (8%) and Slovakia (5%).

Meanwhile, the share of Chinese-made cars in EU sales rose to 6% in the first half of 2025, up from 5% in the first half of 2024. South Korea and Japan had a share of around 4%, while Turkey and Morocco accounted for 5% and 4% respectively. The “Other” category, which includes smaller producing countries, continued its gradual decline, falling from 9% in the first half of 2021 to 3% in the first half of 2025.

Asia...China saw registrations rise by 12%, reaching 11 million units. Japan saw growth of 10.7% to almost 2 million units after a supply disruption in 2024. South Korea contributed to the region’s growth with a 5% increase. India’s total registrations remained unchanged.

North and South America...New car registrations in North America also rose by 2.5% and in the United States by 2.1% in the first half of 2025. South America stood out as the fastest-growing region, with registrations up 12.7%, partly thanks to Brazil’s 3.3% growth, which led to total registrations in the region increasing to over 1.5 million units.

Other countries in the region, notably Argentina (+86.4%) and Chile (+16.1%), also saw strong growth in the first half of the year.

FIGURES – NEW PASSENGER CAR REGISTRATIONS IN THE WORLD – H1 2025

EU: 5,576,568

UK: 1,042,219

Russia: 531,382

Turkey: 488,003

EFTA: 196,533

Rest of Europe: 271,380

North America: 7,798,379

USA: 6,447,915

South America: 1,502,455

Brazil: 876,303

Asia: 17,906,642

China: 11,000,502

India: 2,212,970

Japan: 1,982,556

South Korea: 726,546

Asia rest: 1,984,068

Middle East/AFRICA: 2,006,403

WORLD TOTAL: 37,350,501

2. NEW PASSENGER CAR PRODUCTION: H1 2025

Global...Global passenger car production increased by 3.5% in the first half of 2025, reaching 37.7 million units. Asia led this growth, contributing 60.1% of total global production, while the EU accounted for 15.9% of global car production.

Chinese production continued to grow strongly (up 12.3% to almost 13 million units), driven by government replacement subsidies, relaxed auto credit policies, recovering domestic demand and increasing exports.

India (+5.1%) benefited from new model launches, lower interest rates and increased discounts, while Japan (+5.6%) prioritized securing export volumes by absorbing US tariffs. South Korea (-1.2%) and Thailand (-1.2%) lagged amid sluggish domestic demand and uncertainty over trade negotiations.

Europe, on the other hand, saw production decline by 2.6% to 7.4 million units, driven by a 2.8% decline in EU production. Production was constrained by stricter CO2 targets, rising costs and a slow recovery in key markets.

North American auto production also fell by 4.6% to 5.7 million units in the first half of 2025, with US production alone falling by 6.1%. This was the result of several factors, including high prices, inventory adjustments and tighter credit conditions. Furthermore, the impending expiration of the electric vehicle tax credit also reduced production.

The South American market grew by 6.3% to over 1 million units, with Brazil leading the way with a 5.7% increase. This was driven by fleet renewal, new tax breaks promoting efficient vehicles, and the start of local assembly by Chinese manufacturers.

The Middle East and Africa region saw production fall by 3.5% to 0.89 million units, while Iran’s output fell by 6.5% due to weak domestic demand and disruptions to energy supplies following recent regional tensions. In contrast, Morocco experienced modest growth of 1.3%, supported by increased investment and expanding export capacity.

European Union (EU)...In the first half of 2025, EU car production fell by 2.8% year-on-year to just under 6 million units. This decline reflected a combination of weaker external demand and ongoing cost pressures, which reduced output in key manufacturing hubs.

Despite the challenging environment, Germany, by far the largest EU producer with a 35.2% share of total EU production, managed to increase production by 4.4%, exceeding 2.1 million units and further consolidating its leading position. France also recorded strong growth, with production increasing by 11.2%, while Slovakia recorded an increase of 8.5%.

In contrast, several countries continued to record negative figures. Italy recorded the sharpest decline, with production decreasing by 33.4%, followed by Belgium (-16.5%), Spain (-12%) and Sweden (-10.5%). The Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania also recorded more moderate declines of between 5% and 7%.

Despite the mixed results across Member States, production in the EU remained concentrated, with Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic together accounting for 63% of total EU passenger car production.

The share of EU-made passenger cars sold in third countries has consistently remained above one third, underlining the strong international orientation of the industry and stable demand outside the single market. Despite the challenging global environment and trade concerns in recent months, the ratio has further increased from 33.6% in the first half of 2024 to 34.8% in the first half of 2025, indicating continued resilience even as successive declines in overall production have created additional pressures.

The United Kingdom remained the largest third-country market for EU-made cars, with 651,104 units in the first half of 2025, followed by the United States (381,366 units) and Turkey (237,651 units). Meanwhile, sales of EU-made cars in China continued their downward trend, decreasing to 116,084 units. This market remained an important sales channel for EU manufacturers, despite increasing domestic competition from Chinese carmakers. Meanwhile, sales in Japan (83,661 units) and EFTA countries (129,815 units) showed relative stability, reflecting more mature but stable market conditions. Other markets have experienced significant declines in recent years, with their combined sales of EU-made cars falling to 505,497 units in the first half of 2025.

Overall, the data confirms the crucial importance of maintaining diversified export destinations.

While growth in key third country markets remains uneven, the ability of EU carmakers to direct more than one third of their production abroad demonstrates both their resilience and their capacity to cope with changing market conditions.

FIGURES – NEW PASSENGER CAR PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE – H1 2025

EUROPE: 7,416,795

EU: 5,971,493

Turkey: 455,348

UK: 382,139

Russia: 341,658

Rest of Europe: 265,650

Germany: 2,100,757

Spain: 934,414

Czech Republic: 732,633

Slovakia: 569,847

France: 497,576

Italy: 136,229

Hungary: 218,823

Romania: 235,561

Belgium: 99,521

Sweden: 135,348

NORTH AMERICA: 5,660,431

USA: 3,648,403

SOUTH AMERICA: 1,029,028

Brazil: 902,881

ASIA: 22,642,746

China: 12,973,189

Japan: 3,562,881

India: 2,629,991

South Korea: 1,950,016

Indonesia: 473,321

Thailand: 351,761

Other Asia: 701,587

Middle East/Africa: 887,709

Iran: 457,646

Morocco: 242,047

Other: 188,106

WORLD TOTAL: 37,646,799

Source: ACEA / Serbian Association of Vehicle and Parts Importers