The Belgian new-car market continued to claw back its poor start to 2026 in August. Registrations rose by 8.3% year-on-year to 28,295 cars, while fully electric models took a record 46.2% of the market.

Yet the headline growth needs some perspective: August had one more working day than last year, and volumes remain well below the exceptional levels seen only a few years ago.

According to figures from mobility authority FPS Mobility and automotive federation FEBIAC, both sides of the market contributed to August’s recovery.

Registrations by private customers increased by 7.7%, while registrations by professional customers increased by 8.7%. Companies once again dominated, accounting for 61.1% of all registrations.

That also helps explain another milestone. For the third consecutive month, the battery-electric powertrain was the most registered in Belgium.

Its August share reached an unprecedented 46.2%, up from 42.9% in July. The Belgian market is therefore rapidly becoming electric at the registration counter, although this remains heavily driven by company cars.

At the end of June, BEVs accounted for 36.1% of all new cars registered in 2026, compared with 34.7% over full-year 2025. Among companies, however, their share was already 59%, and almost seven out of ten new EVs were registered by professional customers.

Private buyers still prefer ICE

Private buyers are moving much more slowly. During the first half of 2026, petrol still accounted for 61.1% of their new-car registrations, followed by conventional hybrids at 18.9%.

BEVs nevertheless crossed the 10% threshold for the first time, reaching 10.2%, compared with 8.9% in 2025. PHEVs accounted for only 5.3% and diesel for 2.6%.

The model ranking illustrates the divide even better: the private top ten contains no fully electric car at all. Petrol-powered Dacia Sandero, VW T-Roc and BMW X1 lead the ranking, alongside the hybrid Toyota Yaris. Among professional customers, by contrast, BEVs account for 59% of registrations and dominate the top ten models.

Bad start almost erased

August confirms that Belgium’s new-car market has gradually recovered from a particularly weak start to the year. January registrations plunged 18.7%, partly because the introduction of a new Euro standard had pulled registrations forward into December 2025. February was still down 7.7%.

Since then, the pattern has been more encouraging, albeit volatile: March +8.8%, April virtually flat, May -2.1%, June +9.4%, July -7.4%, and now August +8.3%. Consequently, a cumulative deficit of 13.2% after February has shrunk to just 1.4% after eight months.

From January through August, 288,250 new cars were registered, only 4,099 fewer than the 292,349 recorded over the same period in 2025. But comparing further back puts the recovery into perspective.

Belgium registered 324,892 new cars in the first eight months of 2024 and 335,942 in 2023. Today’s market therefore remains roughly 11% below 2024 levels and 14% below 2023 levels.

August itself tells a similar story. The 28,295 registrations are 8.3% above last year’s particularly weak 26,120, but still 3.5% below August 2024’s 29,333 and at least 23% below the 36,798 cars registered in August 2023.

That year was distorted upward by company fleets anticipating changes in company-car taxation, but it illustrates how much the structure of the Belgian market has changed.

BMW leads, Chinese brands surge

BMW remains Belgium’s largest brand, both in August, with 3,685 registrations, and year-to-date, with 31,975. Volkswagen and Mercedes complete the 2026 top three.

Among the fastest growers are several Chinese brands: BYD has more than doubled to 5,726 registrations this year (+116%), MG is up 134% to 6,185, and Leapmotor has surged 377% to 2,281. Tesla has also recovered strongly, rising almost 30% to 8,292 cars.

Elsewhere, the picture is mixed. New motorcycle and scooter registrations jumped 12.9% in August and are up 10.4% this year to 21,687 units. Light commercial vehicles fell 5.1% in August and remain 6.4% down year-to-date.

Heavy trucks are weaker still: registrations below 16 tonnes are down 22.1% this year, while the ≥16-tonne segment has declined by 5%.

The conclusion after eight months is therefore less that Belgium’s car market is booming again than that 2026 has almost repaired its disastrous start.

More significant is what is happening beneath the surface: company fleets are regaining weight, and their accelerating switch to electric cars is turning the BEV from a challenger into Belgium’s dominant new-car powertrain.