25 Years of Transformation

Vehicle Types of the past 25 years.

At the start of the century, petrol and diesel vehicles dominated the industry, with petrol holding the largest share and diesel growing steadily through the early 2000s. Particularly over the past 10 years you can see the gradual decline of internal combustion engine vehicles and the accelerating rise of alternative powertrains. A tipping point in the industry was around 2018–2020, where electrified powertrains transition to mainstream growth, this signalled a massive fundamental transformation of the automotive industry. While internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrains continue to hold the largest overall share of the market, even in 2025 with over 1 million Petrol registrations, their dominance has steadily eroded over time. The gap between ICE and electric vehicles has narrowed significantly, especially with diesel vehicle, as electric vehicles have consistently gained market share, ultimately surpassing diesel after 25 years, a milestone that highlights the scale and pace of the industry’s transition.

These trends illustrate how the automotive industry has moved decisively away from a near-total reliance on conventional fuel types toward a future increasingly shaped by electrification and sustainable mobility. This shift represents one of the most profound transformations of the past quarter century, redefining vehicle technology, manufacturing strategies, regulatory frameworks, and consumer expectations across the global automotive ecosystem.

Combined power, Co2 and weight over the past 25 years.

Alongside the rise in electric vehicle production, the correlation to the measurable decline in average vehicle CO₂ emissions is clear. As electric vehicles moved from niche production to mainstream adoption particularly after 2018, their growing share in the overall vehicle mix began to materially influence fleet-wide emissions averages. The graph highlights a notable divergence between vehicle performance characteristics and environmental impact.

As vehicle technology has advanced, a notable and somewhat counterintuitive trend has emerged. Average vehicle power and kerb weight have increased rapidly over time, driven in large part by the growth of SUVs, enhanced safety requirements, and sustained consumer demand for performance, comfort, and drivability. Despite these increases, average fleet CO₂ emissions have continued to decline in a clear and sustained manner.

This apparent contradiction highlights the scale and effectiveness of technological progress across the automotive industry. Significant improvements in internal combustion engine efficiency, the widespread adoption of turbocharging and engine downsizing, and the increasing integration of hybrid powertrains have potentially all played a critical role in reducing emissions. More recently, the growing share of battery-electric vehicles within the overall vehicle mix has further accelerated this downward trend in average CO₂ output.

In practical terms, this illustrates that meaningful environmental gains can coexist with greater vehicle capability, refinement, and performance. So far, it seems as though, OEMs have largely been able to balance increasing vehicle weight and power through electrification and efficiency gains, although sustaining this balance will require continued innovation. The sustainability and further reduction of CO₂ emissions, could be one of the industry’s biggest challenges going forward.