Diesel Cars Drop to Just 3% of New Registrations in Belgium
Diesel vehicles now represent only 3% of new car registrations in Belgium, according to the latest data from FEBIAC, the Belgian Federation of the Automobile and Cycle Industry. The figure marks a stunning collapse from nearly 80% at diesel’s peak in 2018, as the country undergoes one of the fastest automotive energy transitions in Europe.
A Dramatic Decline
The decline has been swift and relentless. By March 2026, diesel’s share had fallen even further to just 2.3% of new car registrations, according to a FEBIAC press release. This represents a dramatic shift for a country where diesel once dominated the roads.
According to RTBF, the collapse was particularly rapid between 2017 and 2025. The Volkswagen “Dieselgate” scandal of 2015 severely damaged consumer trust, while increasingly strict Low Emission Zones (LEZ) in Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent have progressively restricted older diesel vehicles from city centers.
“For a long time considered the ideal economic choice for high-mileage drivers, diesel is now undergoing a real transformation,” noted Jean-Marc Streel, the RTBF journalist who reported on the data.
Several factors have driven the decline. Belgium’s favorable diesel taxation — which once made the fuel significantly cheaper than gasoline — has been gradually eroded. The country’s company car culture, where nearly half of new registrations are corporate vehicles, has been a particularly powerful lever: tax incentives have been systematically shifted away from diesel toward electric and hybrid vehicles. Automakers have also reduced their diesel offerings, reallocating research and development investment toward electrified powertrains.
What Is Replacing Diesel?
Electrified vehicles now dominate the Belgian new car market. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 34.7% of new registrations in 2025, with 143,849 units sold, according to the FEBIAC annual market analysis. Together, hybrid and electric vehicles totaled 55.6% of the market.
Gasoline remains the most popular choice among private buyers at 40.6% of new registrations, while hybrids — offering a compromise between combustion engines and full electrification — continue to gain ground. Across Europe, hybrids now represent nearly 39% of the market in 2026, according to ACEA data cited by RTBF.
Diesel Still Dominant in Commercial Vehicles
Despite its collapse in the passenger car market, diesel remains essential for commercial vehicles. Over 80% of new vans sold in Europe still run on diesel. In Belgium, diesel represents 85.4% of light commercial vehicle registrations in early 2026, as reported by Vroom.be.
This split highlights a key challenge: while passenger cars can transition to electric powertrains relatively quickly, commercial vehicles face greater hurdles due to range requirements, payload constraints, and charging infrastructure limitations.
The Existing Fleet
As of the end of 2025, the Belgian car fleet stood at 6,069,957 vehicles. Diesel still accounts for 1,583,923 units — roughly one in four cars on the road. However, this share is declining rapidly as older diesel vehicles are phased out and replacement parts and servicing become less economical.
What Lies Ahead for Diesel?
David Leclercq, an automotive journalist at GoCar.be, offered a blunt assessment: “The future of diesel no longer depends on engineers or motorists, but on politicians.”
One potential lifeline is HVO100, a synthetic diesel fuel produced from waste residues that can reduce lifecycle CO₂ emissions by up to 90%, while also lowering fine particle emissions by 33% and nitrogen oxides by 9%. However, adoption remains limited — only about 34 stations in Belgium offer it, primarily in Flanders, at a price of approximately €3.26 per liter. Without tax incentives and broader political support, its impact is likely to remain marginal.
On the used car market, the effects are already visible. Diesel accounted for just 26% of second-hand sales in 2025, down from 30.6% in 2024, as buyers grow wary of future restrictions and declining resale values. Owners of the 1.58 million diesel vehicles still on Belgian roads face an increasingly uncertain outlook as LEZ boundaries expand and servicing costs rise.
Belgium’s rapid diesel decline — from 80% to 3% in roughly eight years — positions the country as a bellwether for the energy transition in transportation. The shift has been accelerated by Belgium’s unique company car culture, where nearly 50% of new registrations are corporate vehicles, making tax policy an especially powerful lever for change.
The Bottom Line
Diesel’s near-complete disappearance from the Belgian new car market represents a fundamental shift in mobility. While the fuel will likely persist in commercial vehicles and niche applications, its era as a mainstream passenger car choice is effectively over. The question now is not whether diesel will recover, but how quickly the remaining 1.58 million diesel vehicles on Belgian roads will be replaced — and what will power them.