The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that sales of fully electric cars surpassed those of gasoline-only vehicles in the European Union for the first time in December, even as hybrids held onto the largest overall share of the market. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the data underscores how the bloc is shifting slowly toward electric and hybrid vehicles, even as policy-makers have proposed loosening emission regulations that should allow vehicles with combustion engines to stick around for longer. Independent automotive analyst Matthias Schmidt said it will still take around half a decade before pure electric cars genuinely overtake combustion-engine models across the region, "but this is nonetheless a start." Fully electric vehicles made up 22.6 per cent of cars registered in the EU last month, edging out gas-powered cars on 22.5 per cent. Registrations are a proxy for sales. In the broader European market, which includes Britain and Norway, car sales logged a sixth month of year-on-year growth. Competition from Chinese brands such as BYD, Changan and Geely is intensifying the race for the European market, even as domestic carmakers like Volkswagen and BMW roll out new EV models.