Filenews 9 August 2025 - by Charalambos Zakos
The new shift in the car market can no longer be characterized as just a trend, since the data of the last few months now clearly show the preferences of Cypriot drivers.
From diesel to gasoline and from gasoline we have now reached hybrids. This is shown by the data of the Statistical Service for the first seven months of 2025, with the latter recording an impressive increase and gasoline engines reaching the market share for 2025.
Vehicle registrations in petrol and diesel vehicles are further reduced compared to the corresponding period last year. In contrast, hybrid and electric cars are on the rise, boosting their market share.
More specifically, according to the data, car registrations recorded an increase of 1.1% in the period January-July 2025, reaching 31,200, compared to 30,864 during the corresponding period of 2024.
60% used
At the same time, registrations of passenger saloons also recorded a negligible increase, as they reached 24,158, compared to 24,126 in the corresponding period of 2024.
Of the total number of saloon cars, 9,660 or 40% were new and 14,498 or 60% were used cars, while rental cars showed an increase of 32.9%, with registrations reaching 3,581.
Hybrids are established
The general perception that was observed in the past regarding the preferences of Cypriot drivers is no longer an arbitrary conclusion but is translated through the figures.
Car registrations had shown the trend, which is now the new reality, since hybrid cars are flooding Cypriot roads.
The increase in the prices of motor fuels, environmental reasons, but also the many options now offered by the car manufacturers seem to have pushed many citizens to change their preferences and turn to new technologies in terms of engines and electromobility.
Indicative are the figures recorded by the Statistical Service, which show a decline in the gasoline and diesel car markets and an increase in electric and hybrid cars.
In particular, the share of gasoline-powered saloon cars in the total of this vehicle category decreased in the period January-July 2025 to 43.3% (from 49.9% in the corresponding period of 2024), as did the share of diesel cars (from 9.9% in 2024 to 8.5% in 2025). On the contrary, the share of electric vehicles (from 3.2% in 2024 to 4.8% in 2025) and hybrids (from 36.8% to 43.3%) increased.
Electricity is expensive for electricity
Although the state has proceeded with plans to subsidize the purchase of purely electric cars, Cypriots do not seem to be willing to completely abandon the safety of internal combustion engines. In fact, in the previous period, professionals in the sector had commented negatively on the decision of the Ministry of Transport to reduce the budget for electromobility. In fact, a few minutes after the applications were opened, they disappeared, which shows that there is interest, but in essence this is not so big that it can change the data to a large extent.
Cypriot roads will not be flooded, at least not in the coming years, with purely electric cars, since on the one hand the absence of infrastructure and on the other hand the expensive price of electricity and the high prices of electric cars do not serve the large portion of Cypriots.
However, what seems to serve and give the desired balance between initial price, maintenance costs, fuel savings, without restrictions on traffic, are hybrids. Something that is now also recorded in the data of the Statistical Service.
