According to the data of the European Car Manufacturers Association (ACEA), EU car registrations increased by 4.5% in August and by 5.3% for the first 8 months (year-to-date), against a backdrop of rising energy prices and persistent geopolitical uncertainty.

Demand for a range of electrified vehicles remained strong (68.3% of the total market for new cars), driven by market support measures and a broader model offering. Hybrid-electric vehicles ranked as the most popular powertrain choice amongst buyers (36.6%), while battery-electric cars accounted for 21.7% of new EU car registrations, and plug-in hybrids captured 10% of the EU market.

By power source

Up until August 2026, battery-electric cars held a 21.7% share of the EU market, up from 15.8% a year earlier. Hybrid-electric car registrations captured 36.6% of the market, remaining the preferred choice among EU consumers. At the same time, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 29%, compared with 37.5% a year earlier.

Electric

In the first eight months of 2026, 1,641,333 new battery-electric cars were registered, capturing 21.7% of the EU market. Three of the four largest EU markets, which together accounted for 64% of all battery-electric car registrations, recorded strong growth: France (+74.2%), Germany (+53.1%), and Denmark (+40.9%). Belgium also posted an increase (+13.1%), albeit at a slower pace, as BEVs were already important due to professional buyers.

Hybrid

August 2026 YTD’s figures also showed new EU hybrid-electric car registrations rising to 2,759,718 units, supported by growth in Spain (+21%) and Italy (+20.5%), with Germany (+5.2%) and France (+1.8%) also recording increases. Overall, hybrid-electric models accounted for 36.6% of the total EU market.

Plug-in-hybrid electric car registrations continued to grow, reaching 758,082 units in January-August 2026. This was driven by rising volumes in key markets such as Italy (+77.6%), Spain (+33.9%), and Germany (+15.6%). New plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 10% of EU registrations, up from 8.8% over the same period in 2025.

Petrol and diesel

By the end of August 2026, petrol car registrations fell 18.6%, experiencing significant downturns across all major European markets. France saw the sharpest decline, with volumes plunging by 35.8%, while other key markets also posted double-digit losses: Spain (-18.5%), Germany (-21.9%), and Italy (-16.7%).

Accounting for 1,634,733 new cars registered over the past eight months, petrol’s market share fell to 21.7% from 28% last year. In addition, the diesel car market continued its downward trend, with registrations declining by 18.6% and representing 7.3% of new EU car registrations, down from 9.4%.

In this context, for example, it’s not so strange that Europe’s largest manufacturer, Volkswagen, is cutting its ICE production and ramping up (finally) its EV production.

Evolution in the EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland) and the UK runs perfectly parallel to the main tendencies in the EU, except in Norway, where all types of hybrids are seriously losing popularity, and pure ICE cars are practically non-existent: out of 96,464 cars sold in Norway in the first eight months, 94,315 were fully electric (97.8%), 1,202 were hybrids (1.2%), 172 were petrol(0.2%), and 775 were diesel (0.8%).

By make

Volkswagen Group stays comfortably in the lead in August but sees its sales diminish by 3.2%. The number two, Stellantis, lags far behind but sees its total sales grow by 3.3%. Renault Group ranks third, despite a 4.3% sales decline.

The battle for fourth place is still raging, and overall figures are very tight between BMW, Hyundai, and Toyota. In August, Toyota (+1% in sales) sold the most cars, followed by BMW Group (5th, +0.8%), which is locked in a fierce battle with Hyundai Group (6th, -10.4%).

Mercedes-Benz remains comfortably 7th (+7.2% in sales), but is now followed by two Chinese manufacturers: Geely Group (9th) increased sales by 23.5% but was overtaken in August by BYD (8th), which increased sales by a staggering 129.4%. Ford remains in tenth place, despite a 16.1% sales drop.

Eleventh and twelfth place are again for Chinese manufacturers: SAIC Motor saw sales grow 20.8% in August, and Chery Automobile tripled its sales (+200.6%), jumping over Tesla (13th), which also posted a strong result, increasing sales by 52.7%.

Mazda (14th) also scored well (+37.3%), followed by Nissan (15th, -1%) and Suzuki (16th, -9.6% in sales). The fifth Chinese company in the top 20 is Stellantis partner Leapmotor, which increased its sales by 211.1%.

Cumulated

In the first two-thirds of 2026, Volkswagen remains far ahead but sees its market share shrink from 27.5% to 26.5% despite a 1% sales increase. Stellantis Group managed to sell 5.9% more cars and holds a 15.9% market share. Renault Group remains third but saw its market share fall to 10.4% (from 11.4%) after a 4% sales decrease.

In the already mentioned close battle for fourth place, over the eight months, Hyundai Group still remains in fourth position with a market share of 7.1% (down from 7.6%), followed by Toyota Group (7% share, down from 7.4%), and BMW Group (6.9%, down from 7.0%).

The rest of the top ten includes Mercedes-Benz (4.9% market share), Geely Group (2.7%), BYD (2.4%), and Ford (2.3%). SAIC Motor (with MG as the main brand here) sits in 11th place (2.2%), while Tesla (1.9%) has climbed back to 12th place after increasing sales by 65.9%.

Nissan is 13th (1.7% share), Chery Automobile is 14th (1.5%), and Suzuki is 15th (1.3%), followed by Mazda (16th, 1.2%). Seventeenth is the fifth Chinese manufacturer, Leapmotor (0.8%, up from 0.2% in one year), followed by Honda (18th, 0.5%) and JLR (19th, also 0.5%, while Mitsubishi closes the top 20 ranking with 0.3% market share.

The most striking fact remains that five Chinese manufacturers now already represent almost 10% of the total EU market (9.6% market share to be precise).