site.btaBulgaria Shows EU's Second-largest Y/Y Drop in New Car Registrations in January

Bulgaria reported the EU's second-largest year-on-year decrease in new car registrations in January 2025, by 30.1%, second only to Estonia (66.3%), the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said on its website on Tuesday. Conversely, Lithuania had the largest increase, by 33%.

A total of 2,780 new cars were registered in Bulgaria in January 2025, compared with 3,977 in January 2024. Petrol cars accounted for the largest share, at 80.1%. The share of diesel cars was 10.6%, and battery electric vehicles (BEV) accounted for 5.1% of new car registrations in the country. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) made up 2.8%, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) were 1.4%.

EU-wide, January 2025 saw 831,201 new car registrations, decreasing by 2.6% compared with January 2024. Reuters commented that the growing number of new BEVs and HEVs on leading auto markets in the EU did not offset the fall in petrol and diesel cars.

France saw a 6.2% year-on-year decline in new car registrations during the month in review, which was the most considerable decrease among the leading EU auto markets.