Despite Strongly Growing Plug-In Hybrids, No Golden October

In October 2025, 22.6 percent of new registrations were for purely electric vehicles (BEVs), representing an increase of 17.1 percent compared to the same month last year. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) showed the greatest growth compared to the same month last year; they increased by a third (33.6 percent) and reached a market share of 12.8 percent. Combined, in October 2025, 35.4 percent of the new passenger vehicles had a charging plug.

The major sales efforts and numerous promotions by importers and dealers in October couldn't change the fact that, since the beginning of the year, a recovery of the overall market has not occurred, while the share of plug-in vehicles managed to be slightly increased. Cumulatively, 187,378 new passenger cars have been registered in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein since the beginning of the year. Over the entire year, the combined market share of plug-in vehicles (BEV and PHEV) stands at 32.5 percent, thus below a third. The goal formulated in the 'Electromobility Roadmap', to reach the 50 percent mark by the end of the year, is therefore unattainable. As a result, automotive importers face CO2 compensation payments in the hundreds of millions for the year 2025.

The EU is once again ahead of Switzerland.

Despite the massive expansion of electric models in all price categories and targeted sales promotions, customer demand for plug-in vehicles remains cautious. 'Our members are doing a lot to advance electromobility, as was recently demonstrated at the Auto Zürich car exhibition. But market reality shows that the purchase incentives and current framework conditions in Switzerland are not enough to convince customers,' explains Thomas Rücker, Director of auto-schweiz. Meanwhile, new burdens such as the planned e-tax increasingly unsettle customers and complicate the transition in drive systems. In contrast, the European Union (EU) shows immediate measures like flexibilizing CO2 targets, tax breaks in countries like Belgium and Norway, the EU champion in electromobility, are effective. In the EU, the overall market has grown by 0.9 percent since the beginning of the year, instead of losing nearly four percent as here. 'Switzerland is well advised to quickly adapt the signals from the EU for the local market. Otherwise, the Swiss economy will be more burdened by the stricter 'Swiss Finish' than in the EU,' explains Thomas Rücker.

Detailed figures by brand are available at www.auto.swiss. The evaluations by auto-schweiz are based on federal surveys, the data may be provisional and not yet finalized.

Press contact:
Frank Keidel
Media Spokesperson
T +41 76 399 69 06
frank.keidel@auto.swiss

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