According to data from the European Car Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), new EU car registrations fell by 3.9% year on year in January, marking a second consecutive challenging start to the year for the market.

“The battery-electric car market share reached 19.3%, highlighting the continued potential for further
growth,” states ACEA’s press release. “Hybrid-electric vehicles lead as the most popular power type choice among buyers, with plug-in hybrids consolidating their position in the market, underlining the importance of a technology-neutral pathway to decarbonisation.”

By power source

Battery-electric cars accounted for 19.3% of the EU market share in January 2026, an increase from the low baseline of 14.9% one year earlier. Hybrid-electric car registrations captured 38.6% of the market, remaining the preferred choice among consumers in the EU.

Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 30.1%, down from 39.5% in January 2025.

Electric

In January 2026, 154,230 new battery-electric cars were registered, capturing 19.3% of the EU market share. The four largest markets in the EU, which together account for 60% of battery-electric car registrations, delivered mixed results: France (+52.1%) and Germany (+23.8%) recorded strong growth, while Belgium (-11.5%) and the Netherlands (-35.4%) experienced declines.

Hybrid

January 2026 figures also showed new EU hybrid-electric car registrations rising to 308,364 units, supported by growth in Italy (+24.9%) and Spain (+9%), while France remained stable. Completing the four major markets, Germany recorded a 1.8% decline compared with January 2025. Overall, hybrid-electric models accounted for 38.6% of the total EU market.

Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars continue to show strong growth, reaching 78,741 units in the first month of 2026. This was driven by rising volumes in key markets, including Italy (+134.2%), Spain (+66.7%), and Germany (+23%). As a result, new plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 9.8% of EU registrations, up from 7.4% in January last year.

Petrol and diesel

In January 2026, petrol car registrations fell by 28.2%, with all major markets recording declines. France experienced the steepest drop, with registrations plummeting by 48.9%, followed by Germany (-29.9%), Italy (-25.5%), and Spain (-22.5%). With 175,989 new cars registered last month, the market share for petrol fell to 22% from 29.5% in the same month last year.

The diesel car market continued its downward trend, with registrations declining by 22.3% and accounting for 8.1% of new car registrations last January.

Looking at the EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland), we see a dramatic increase in car sales in Iceland (+132.8%) in January 2026, driven by PHEV and hybrid sales. Norway had a very slow market in January (-76.3%), but the market is still almost exclusively BEV: 2,084 of the 2,218 cars sold in January were battery-electric vehicles.  In an almost stable market in Switzerland (-5.1%), plug-in hybrids are the big winners (+26.1%).

Unlike most European countries, the UK also saw sales increase in January (+3.4%), driven by a significant rise in PHEV sales (+47.8%), while petrol (-10.8%) and diesel (-14.8%) further declined.

By make

In the first month of the new year, the VW group held on to its market share (27.5%), despite a -3.7% sales decrease, while the number two, Stellantis, had a very good month, with a sales increase of 9.1% and a market share of 18.2% (up from 16.1%). Major sales increases were registered for Fiat, Opel/Vauxhall, and Lancia/Chrysler.

The number three, Renault Group, didn’t sell well in January 2026 (-16.7%) and saw its market share decline from 10.9% to 9.4%. Same story for numbers four and five: Toyota Group sold 14.3% fewer cars and saw its market share drop to 7.7% (from 8.6% in January 2025). Same story for Hyundai Group: -14.7% in sales, market share from 7.7 to 6.9%.

That’s hardly more than the market share of the BMW Group (6.7%), which limited sales losses to -3.3% thanks to a sales increase (+17.4%) at Mini. Mercedes-Benz sold 4% more cars in January 2026, consolidating its seventh position with a 4.5% market share (up from 4.2%).

Ford, Volvo Cars, and Nissan complete the top ten, but all three lost sales, and the latter two also market share: 2.0% for Volvo (down from 2.2%), 1.8% for Nissan (down from 2.1%).

The result is that two Chinese companies are now seriously closing in. The former number one Chinese brand (SAIC Motor) saw stagnant sales (-0.8%), while compatriot BYD registered a 175.3% sales increase and sold 192 more cars than SAIC Motor. Both sold almost 14,000 cars in January and scored a 1.7% market share.

Suzuki (13th) lost 14.6% in sales, while Mazda (14th) gained 5.7% in registrations. Tesla (15th) sold almost the same number of cars than in January last year (-1.6%) but now has a market share of less than 1%.  Jaguar Land Rover (16th) sold 12.5% fewer vehicles and didn’t sell a single Jaguar anymore, while Honda progresses (+11.9%), and Mitsubishi further regresses (-37.9%), and the two swap places in the ranking.

When one takes the EFTA and (more importantly) the UK sales into account, the ranking of the brands differs somewhat, with Hyundai Group in fourth place, BMW Group in fifth, and Toyota Group in sixth. Here, SAIC Motor is still slightly larger than BYD, while Tesla falls back to 16th place, overtaken by JLR Group.