The average tailpipe CO₂ of a new car sold in Europe fell from 187 g/km in 2005 to 42 g/km in 2026 — a 78% drop, as electric and hybrid models took over the market. Measured across 64,684 model variants.
New-car tailpipe CO₂ is down 78% since 2005, driven by electrification.
| Period | CO₂ (g/km) | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 187 | 3,961 |
| 2006 | 189 | 2,881 |
| 2007 | 185 | 3,005 |
| 2008 | 175 | 3,343 |
| 2009 | 164 | 3,515 |
| 2010 | 162 | 5,039 |
| 2011 | 160 | 4,463 |
| 2012 | 157 | 5,086 |
| 2013 | 140 | 4,710 |
| 2014 | 138 | 4,543 |
| 2015 | 128 | 4,786 |
| 2016 | 136 | 3,510 |
| 2017 | 131 | 3,199 |
| 2018 | 131 | 2,617 |
| 2019 | 131 | 3,024 |
| 2020 | 120 | 2,177 |
| 2021 | 120 | 1,697 |
| 2022 | 108 | 1,019 |
| 2023 | 79 | 732 |
| 2024 | 78 | 841 |
| 2025 | 41 | 403 |
| 2026 | 42 | 133 |
Average manufacturer-quoted combined CO₂ (g/km), grouped by first model year. Fully electric cars are counted as 0 g/km tailpipe, so the fleet average reflects the shift to electric — it is not the figure for a single combustion car. One row per variant.