India, Jan. 27 -- Europe's new car sales increased at a faster pace in December but the overall sales volume in the whole year of 2025 remained below pre-pandemic levels, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, said Tuesday.

In December, new car sales logged an annual growth of 5.8 percent after rising 2.1 percent in November.

The annual variation for December showed a surge of 51.0 percent for battery-electric and 36.7 percent for plug-in-hybrid electric cars, while hybrid-electric recorded a 5.8 percent increase.

On the other hand, sales of petrol and diesel cars plunged 19.2 percent and 22.4 percent, respectively.

Among major markets, car sales in Germany increased 9.7 percent and that in Italy gained 2.3 perce...