Sales of hybrid cars surpassed Diesel for the first time in Europe in 2021, albeit by just 48 vehicles, according to data released by the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

One in 11 cars sold was powered by batteries, nearly 880,000 vehicles being sold, according to ACEA.

A total of 1.9 million non-plug-in hybrid cars were registered in the EU last year, a significant increase over the 1.1 million registered in 2020. Diesel vehicle registrations, which have collapsed since the 2015 emissions scandal, have decreased by one third in 2021, to 1,901,191 units, compared to 2.77 million in 2020.

Government subsidies for the purchase of low- and zero-emission vehicles as part of pandemic recovery programs have boosted sales of plug-in and all-electric hybrid vehicles.

In 2021, sales of all-electric vehicles rose by 63.1% to almost 878,500 units, while deliveries of plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 70.7% to almost 867,100 units, according to Agerpres.

In 2021, petrol vehicles accounted for 40% of new registrations, as compared to 48% in 2020.

New car registrations in Europe fell by 1.5% in 2021, surpassing the previous record low in 2020, while Romania reported a 4.1% drop last year, according to data released last month by the ACEA.

The statistics are valid for the 27 Member States of the European Union, plus the United Kingdom and the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), respectively Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

About 121,208 cars were registered on the Romanian car market last year, compared to 126,351 in 2020.