In April 2026, year-to-date (YTD) new EU car registrations increased by 4.2%, despite ongoing geopolitical factors heightening uncertainty and downside risks, according to data from the European Car Manufacturers Association (ACEA). In April only, the market increased 5.1% (YOY).

“The market continued to benefit from strong consumer demand for a range of electrified technologies, supported by new and revised tax benefits and incentive schemes across major European countries,” ACEA states.

Up until April 2026, battery-electric cars accounted for 19.7% of the EU market, an increase from 15.3% a year earlier. In April alone, the share of full electric vehicles was 20.6%. Hybrid-electric vehicles are the most popular powertrain choice among buyers, while plug-in hybrids captured 9.6% of the market.

By power source

Electric

In the first four months of 2026, 746,899 new battery-electric cars were registered, capturing 19.7% of the EU market. Three of the four largest EU markets, which together represented 64% of all battery-electric car registrations, posted strong growth: Italy (+73.1%), France (+48.2%), and Germany (+41.3%). By contrast, Belgium (+1.1%) experienced only subdued growth. The reason is that company cars are less bought at the moment, and most of them are electric.

Hybrid

April 2026’s YTD figures also showed new EU hybrid-electric car registrations rising to 1,447,864 units, supported by growth in Italy (+25.5%) and Spain (+19.7%), with Germany (+6.6%) and France (+2.3%) also contributing positively. Overall, hybrid-electric models accounted for 38.2% of the total EU market.

Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars continued to grow, reaching 364,067 units in the April 2026 YTD. This was driven by rising volumes in key markets such as Italy (+99.2%), Spain (+64.3%), and Germany (+17.6%). Therefore, new plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 9.6% of EU registrations, up from 7.9% over the same period in 2025.

Petrol and diesel

By the end of April 2026, petrol car registrations declined by 17.7%, with decreases across all major markets. France recorded the sharpest drop, with registrations plummeting by 36.6%, whereas other key markets also saw double-digit decreases: Spain (-18.6%), Italy (-18%), and Germany (-17.2%).

With 854,843 new cars registered in the last four months, the market share for petrol fell to 22.5% from 28.5% in April 2025 YTD. In addition, the diesel car market continued its downward trend, albeit at a slower pace, with registrations declining by 16.1% and
accounting for 7.7% of new car registrations.

Tendencies are almost the same in the EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland) and the UK, except that Norway almost completely abandoned hybrid cars in April (-91.8%) and plug-in hybrids (-55.4%). The UK saw a very good month in April, with a 24% increase in sales compared to last year, and electric vehicles up 59.2%, plug-in hybrids up 46.3%, and hybrids up 20.6%.

By make

In April, the VW Group increased its sales by 3.2% and remains by far the number one with 27.4% market share. The Stellantis group is clearly second, thanks to a 5.5% sales increase (16.4% market share). The top three are completed with the Renault Group, selling slightly less than the year before (-4.3%) and having a 10.1% market share.

The battle for fourth place is still ongoing. Last month, Hyundai Group sold the most cars, despite a 2.5% sales loss, resulting in a 7.3% market share. BMW Group sold 85 more cars than Toyota Group in April, overtaking the Japanese for fifth place. Both have a market share of 6.8%. Mercedes-Benz recorded a 3.5% increase in sales and remained firmly in seventh position with a 4.9% market share.

ACEA now combines the sales figures of the entire Geely Group (including Geely, Geely-Emgrand, LEVC, Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Smart, Volvo Cars, and Zeekr). That results in a comfortable eighth place with 2.7% market share and the first of the Chinese makes. Ford stays ninth with 2.4% market share, while the second Chinese group, SAIC Motor, comes in tenth, with 2.2% market share and a 24.6% sales increase.

They are followed very closely by BYD (11th, 2.1% market share, 116.6% sales increase) and another Chinese group, Chery Automobile, 12th (with Chery, Jaeco, Jetour, and Omoda as brands), with a 276.1% sales increase and 1.4% market share.

Nissan occupies 13th place here, followed by Suzuki, Mazda, and Tesla. The seventeenth is another Chinese brand, Leapmotor, which increased its sales by 407.6% and quadrupled its market share from 0.2% to 0.8%. Jaguar Land Rover saw sales decline by 20.4% and was overtaken by Honda, which increased its sales by 22.7%. The Japanese now hold 0.5% of the market, with JLR at 0.4% in April. Mitsubishi closes out the rankings in 20th place with 0.2% market share and a 56.1% decrease in sales.

Cumulated

When we look at the first 4 months of 2026, the top three remains unchanged. VW Group noted a small sales increase of 2.9% and has a market share of 26.7% in the EU. Inside the group, Skoda is the biggest grower +15.5%, Porsche the biggest loser (-14.9%).

The number two, Stellantis Group recorded a sales increase of 7.8% and a market share of 17.1% (up from 16.5%). The biggest winners here are Fiat (+32.6%) and Opel/Vauxhall (+22%), and Citroën (+9.9%), the biggest losers are Alfa Romeo (-21.4%) and (once again) DS (-18.1%).

The other French group, Renault saw a decline in sales by 7.4%, mainly due to Dacia recording a -15.3% decrease. Alpine is still grwoing (+10.9%), but the absolute numbers are not so high, of course. Renault’s market share fell from 11.4 to 10.1%.

The struggle for fourth place here is still won by Toyota Group (7.1% market share , down from 7.6%), but the two others are close: Hyundai group (7.0% market share, down from 7.5%), and BMW Group (6.8% market share). The first two also lost sales  (-2.5% and -3.1%, respectively), while the German manufacturer increased its sales by 3.9%.

Mercedes-Benz remians seventh (4.8% market share), but Geely Group chases Ford from eighth place (2.5% market share foor geely, 2.4% for Ford). Nissan remains number ten (2.1%),  but SAIC Motor (2.0%) and BYD (1.9%, up from 0.8%) are pushing.

Tesla (13th) managed to turn the page compared to a disastrous last year and has 1.8% market share again (up from 1.1%), thanks to a 61.7% sales increase. Suzuki is fourteenth (1.3% share), but Chery Automobile (also 1.3%) is closing in, selling just under 2,000 cars less, followed by Mazda (16th, also 1.3% share, but sellingsome 500 cars less than Chery).

Compared to the first 4 months of last year, Chinese Leapmotor (and Stellantis partner) saw his sales increase by 558.8% and his market share grow from 0.1% to 0.8%. Jaguar Land Rover has 0.5% market share left, the same as Honda, which, thanks to its 21.4% sales increase sells only some 40à cars less. Mitsubishi closes the ranks, with a 0.2% market share, coming from 0.5% last year.

When we take also the EFTA countries and (more importantly) the UK, we see that Hyundai Group is fourth, before BMW Group and Toyota Group.