(fra Kommisjonens meddelelse 5.3.2025)

The automotive industry is a core engine of European prosperity, innovation and growth. As the Automotive Action Plan notes, the sector is in full transition, experiencing structural changes at unprecedented speed and magnitude over the coming years and decades, driven by the accelerating shift to zero-emission mobility and the increasing integration of digital technologies. Future vehicles will be increasingly clean, connected and automated. Corporate fleets are at the heart of this transition.

Currently, there are almost 290 million vehicles on European roads. Only 6 million are zero-emission vehicles. Corporate vehicle registrations, i.e. vehicles purchased by legal entities and not by physical persons, make up around 60% of car registrations in the EU. In the case of vans, buses, coaches, and trucks, the whole market is effectively corporate, as almost none of those vehicles are registered in the name of private individuals. Hence, measures in the corporate segment can have a positive impact on the overall market.

The Regulations setting CO2 standards for passenger cars and vans and for trucks represent an effective supply-side measure, setting progressively higher emission reduction targets for manufacturers.

From 2035 onwards, new cars and vans will be allowed for registration in the EU only if zero-emission 1 ; for heavy-duty vehicles, the increasingly stringent targets culminate in a 90% CO2 emissions reduction from 2040 onwards, while all new urban buses will have to be zero-emission as from 2035 2 . These measures should now be supplemented by appropriate stimulus to the demand for zero-emission vehicles, whereby support to corporate vehicles plays a key role. 

Accelerating the uptake of zero-emission vehicles in corporate fleets can benefit the European automotive industry and help increase its competitiveness and resilience at this pivotal moment. It can also help with reducing transport emissions further due to the higher milage of corporate vehicles. Transport accounts for a quarter of EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor to air pollution. In urban areas, some of which have enacted increasingly tight low-emissions zones, the impact of zero-emissions vehicles on improving air quality is very pronounced. Hence, accelerating the uptake of zero-emission vehicles co-benefits pollution reduction and our citizens’ health.

EU vehicle manufacturers generally have higher market shares in corporate vehicles than in private ones. An accelerated demand for zero-emission vehicles from corporate fleets can help regain growth and competitiveness of the European automotive sector, reduce overall cost of operations over the lifetime of the vehicle for fleet operators and help consumers by improving second-hand car market offerings and hence reducing the costs of zero-emission vehicles.

Such action therefore can make an important contribution to the industrial action plan on the automotive industry, while also contributing to the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal, the European Green Deal, and the Compass for Competitiveness.

Any measure would need to take into account cost-efficient and fast reduction of emission as well as territorial dimensions and challenges in less developed regions and in (sub)urban, rural or remote areas including gaps in (recharging) infrastructure.

This Communication presents an overview of the market for the companies and vehicles considered as corporate fleet and their challenges, opportunities and good practices that can help accelerate zero-emission vehicles update in corporate fleets with the view to achieving the 2035 zero-emission target. It also includes actions that Member States can take already today to increase the uptake ahead of the legislative proposal that the Commission is working on and which should be adopted by the end of the year. It can also serve as a blueprint and best practice example for our neighbourhood and partner countries.