Finland: nearly 60% of Finland's new car market was rechargeable in 2025

After a challenging 2024, the Finnish automotive market presented a slight decline in 2025, yet the transition to low-emission vehicles maintained its momentum. Here's an overview of the year's performance and key trends.

Decline in New Car Registrations

In 2025, a total of 71,888 new passenger cars were registered in Finland, representing a 2.9% decrease compared to 2024. This represents the lower number of registrations since 1994, even though the rate of reduction has slowed down from the 2023-2024 period, when registrations fell by 15.4%.

Petrol Cars: Registrations dropped to 27,508 units, a decline of 17.6% from 2024.

Diesel Cars: Continued their decline, with only 3,103 units, a 18.6% decrease year-on-year.

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs): 26,745 BEVs were registered, representing a 22.3% increase over 2024 and 37.2% of total new registrations. Total BEV registrations are still below the record from 2023 (29.536), but due to overall sales falling, they represented in 2025 a larger percent of registrations. 

Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs): Registrations fell to 14,516 units, representing a 2.4% year-on-year decrease. 

CNG Vehicles:  this segment has all but disappeared from registrations, with only 1 unit registered in 2025. 

These figures reflect a continuation from 2024, presenting a challenging economic environment with low consumer confidence and a slow response to falling interest rates. However, unlike in 2024, 2025 did present significant growth in the electrified market, specifically in BEV registrations, providing a silver lining in the Finnish market. 

Shift Towards Low-Emission Vehicles

Adoption for low-emission vehicles has accelerated in 2025. BEV registrations are growing and the PHEV decline has slowed; amidst a stagnant overall market, this means that the plug-in share of registrations has increased. 

Rechargeable Vehicles: 57.4%% of new passenger car registrations in 2025 were rechargeable (BEVs or PHEVs), up from 49.6% in 2024.

Commercial Vehicles and Buses

Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs): Registrations increased to 10,435, 7.2% higher than the number from 2024. Of these, BEVs accounted for 1,912 or 18.3% of the total (54.9% up from 2024), with the lion’s share of registrations going to Diesel (7,921).

Trucks: overall truck registrations fell to 2,929 (-15%). BEV trucks grew 42.8% from a very small base, reaching 90 registrations or 3% of total sales. 

Buses: The bus market fell by 25.2% in 2025, though it remains above the average for the last 5 years. 420 buses were registered, 148 of them being BEVs (35.2%). BEV Buses fell by 53.7%, representing the only segment with both fewer registrations and a smaller market share. 

The Road Ahead

2025 reversed the trend from 2024 and saw renewed steam in Finland’s path to electrification. More than half of passenger vehicle registrations and around 15% of commercial vehicle registrations were rechargeable vehicles.

Tax Incentives: The extension of tax benefits for low-emission company cars until 2029 is expected to stimulate further demand for BEVs and PHEVs.

There is a continued trend of decline in overall vehicle registrations, highlighting the need for stronger consumer confidence and supportive policies. Continued focus on expanding charging infrastructure, promoting low-emission trucks, and incentivizing private and corporate adoption will be crucial for Finland's transition to sustainable mobility.

The propulsion revolution continues, with 13% of Finland's car stock now being rechargeable (6.1% BEV, 6.9% PHEV), marking significant progress towards a greener future.

Source:

Finnish Information Centre of Automobile Sector

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the European Commission.