Electric shift powers Portuguese car sales to unexpected 9-month surge

Portuguese car showrooms have enjoyed a livelier-than-expected year. After nine months, the industry has already chalked up 199,714 new registrations, a jump of 6.8 % compared with 2024. The headline, however, only hints at the deeper story: most of the momentum comes from an electrified fleet that is quietly turning combustion engines into a niche product.

Electric Surge Outshines Traditional Engines

Battery-powered and hybrid models are now the undisputed growth engine of the market. Between January and September, they accounted for more than half of all new vehicles, with fully electric cars alone expanding 34.5 % year-on-year. September was particularly striking: 29.3 % of passenger cars sold were pure BEVs, pushing the year-to-date share to 21.4 %. In practical terms, that means one in five Portuguese buyers is already skipping petrol stations altogether.

Even the heavyweight categories are feeling the current. Electrified lorries and buses, still in their infancy, saw registrations rise 77.3 % to 172 units—tiny volumes, but a signal that fleet operators are preparing for stricter EU emissions ceilings in 2026. By contrast, diesel-only light vans slipped 2.7 %, underlining how incentives and corporate image are steering companies toward cleaner drivetrains.

Fiscal Sweeteners and Policy Tweaks

Government carrots are doing much of the pulling. The Fundo Ambiental’s €10 M rebate pool for zero-emission vehicles was renewed this year, and buyers of a used fossil-fuel car more than 10 years old can still trade it in for a tidy bonus. Equally important is the continued ISV and IUC exemption on 100 % electric vehicles, a perk that removes hundreds of euros from annual ownership costs. Plug-in hybrids with an electric-only range above 50 km also benefit from a reduced ISV, making them attractive to families who lack home charging.

Corporate demand remains critical. Revised Autonomous Tax rates allow companies to deduct a larger slice of an electric vehicle’s cost, and a fairer ISV formula for EU imports has shaved several thousand euros off certain lightly used models arriving from Germany or France. Those tweaks matter when the ECB’s higher interest rates are adding 2–3 percentage points to car loans, a hurdle that might otherwise have dampened enthusiasm.

Winners and Laggards in a Shifting Market

On the showroom floor, the Peugeot 2008 continues to top the sales chart, followed closely by the Renault Clio and the budget-friendly Dacia Sandero. All three now come with some form of electrification, highlighting how mainstream the technology has become. For legacy diesel, the picture is less rosy: light-duty commercial vehicles slipped to 23,007 units, while heavy-truck sales fell 6.8 % over the same period.

September offered a useful stress test. Total registrations that month jumped 13.8 %, confirming that demand remains resilient even as inflation inches up and motorway tolls rise 2.21 %. Heavy trucks actually posted a surprise 36.9 % surge in September alone, suggesting fleet managers are back-loading purchases before stricter emission norms kick in next year.

What to Watch in the Final Stretch of 2025

Dealers are cautiously optimistic about the last quarter. Holiday promotions traditionally boost volume, and the expanding public fast-charging network—up 38 % this year—removes one of the final psy­cho­lo­gi­cal barriers to battery-only mobility. Analysts consulted by ACAP expect electric models to end 2025 with roughly 1 in 4 new cars, and for total market growth to nudge just above 7 %.

Looking further ahead, 2026 could become the breakout year for long-range plug-in hybrids promising 100 km+ of pure-electric commuting, as well as the arrival of more budget-minded Chinese brands. For consumers in Portugal, the real tipping point may come when monthly financing for an electric supermini equals that of an entry-level petrol car—something many leasing companies believe is now only a few product cycles away.

How Portugal Stacks Up in Europe

While the national numbers are encouraging, Portugal is still trailing northern Europe’s electrification leaders. Norway crossed the 80 % BEV threshold years ago, and the Netherlands sits near 50 %. Yet Portugal has leapfrogged Spain and Italy in electric share, and the 67.6 % penetration of alternative powertrains in passenger cars is now the highest in southern Europe.

Crucially, the country’s ageing car fleet—average age 13 years—means the replacement cycle will stay brisk. If fiscal incentives remain stable and charging infrastructure keeps maturing, Portugal could realistically double its BEV share by 2028, placing it firmly in the continent’s upper tier for clean mobility.