Electrive — 2026-10-22
Automotive Industry
Electromobility continues to gain momentum in the European automotive market. According to the manufacturers’ association ACEA, 290,117 new battery-electric passenger cars were registered in the EU in September. This represents an increase of 72.9 per cent compared to the same month last year. Across all powertrain types, 971,048 new passenger cars were registered in September, 9.3 per cent more than in September 2025. The share of pure electric cars thus reached 29.9 per cent in September, meaning almost three out of ten newly registered passenger cars had a fully electric powertrain.
Electromobility has also witnessed significant growth in the year to date. From January to September, 1,931,465 new electric cars were registered in the EU, an increase of 48.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. The BEV market share rose from 16.1 per cent in the previous year to 22.7 per cent. This makes battery-electric cars the second-strongest powertrain type in the EU new car market, after mild and full hybrids without plugs (36.3 per cent market share).
Germany and France drive growth
Growth was particularly strong in the major European markets. In Germany, 88,599 new BEVs were registered in September, 94.7 per cent more than in the same month last year – bringing market share up to 34.5 per cent, as we already reported via electrive.net’s eMobility Dashboard (DE). France registered 65,243 electric cars, an increase of 107.5 per cent. Denmark also saw a significant rise, with 17,784 new registrations, up 36.9 per cent.
Since the beginning of the year, Germany leads the three mentioned markets with 604,144 newly registered electric cars, a 58.1 per cent increase compared to the first nine months of last year. France follows with 387,342 BEVs (+79.1 per cent), and Denmark with 124,049 (+40.3 per cent). Together with Belgium, where registrations increased by 15.7 per cent to 125,220 vehicles, these four markets accounted for around 64 per cent of all BEV registrations in the EU.
Hybrids remain the dominant powertrain
Despite strong BEV growth, hybrid vehicles continue to represent the dominant category of powertrain. From January to September, 3,090,530 passenger cars with full or mild hybrid powertrains were newly registered, accounting for a market share of 36.3 per cent. Plug-in hybrids reached 860,257 vehicles and a share of 10.1 per cent, with registrations increasing by 18.6 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Among plug-in hybrids, growth was particularly strong in Italy: 121,647 vehicles were registered from January to September, a 72.4 per cent increase over the previous year. In Spain, registrations rose by 34.7 per cent, while in Germany they increased by 13.7 per cent to 247,489 vehicles.
Conventional powertrains, on the other hand, continue to lose ground. The number of newly registered petrol cars fell by 19.1 per cent in the first nine months to 1,802,078 vehicles, with their market share dropping from 27.7 to 21.2 per cent. For diesel cars, registrations declined by 19.5 per cent to 602,206 vehicles, and their share shrank from 9.3 to 7.1 per cent.
Growth in non-EU states
Notably, BEV registrations also increased significantly in other European markets outside the EU. In the EFTA states of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, 27,115 pure electric cars were newly registered in September, a 36.3 per cent increase over the same month last year. In the United Kingdom, 99,201 vehicles were registered, also a 36.3 per cent increase. From January to September, BEV registrations in the EFTA states rose by 10.9 per cent to 163,398 vehicles, while in the United Kingdom they increased by 30.2 per cent to 454,947.
For the entire region comprising the EU, EFTA and the UK, ACEA reports 416,433 new BEVs in September—a 59.9 per cent increase. Since the beginning of the year, sales in this region have totalled 2.55 million electric cars, 41.9 per cent more than in the same period last year.
BYD, Chery and Leapmotor see strong growth
The figures by manufacturer are also interesting, although ACEA does not differentiate by powertrain types here. However, as seen in August, there is again strong momentum among Chinese manufacturers, who have continued to expand their sales in Europe. In the EU, BYD increased its new registrations in September by 111.4 per cent year-on-year to 28,309 vehicles. From January to September, growth totalled 154.4 per cent, with 206,002 registrations. Chery, including Jaecoo, Jetour and Omoda, registered 20,707 vehicles in September (+223.8 per cent) and 137,003 since the beginning of the year (+246.5 per cent). SAIC, the parent company of MG, increased its registrations by 24.8 per cent to 22,978 in September; for the year to date, it recorded 186,650 vehicles (+20.4 per cent). Leapmotor showed particularly dynamic growth, with 10,229 new registrations in September (+255.7 per cent) and a total of 72,760 vehicles since the beginning of the year (+393.6 per cent).
A similar picture emerges in the expanded market of the EU, EFTA and the UK: In September, BYD increased its registrations by 98.7 per cent to 49,953 vehicles, Chery by 185.5 per cent to 52,801, and SAIC by 23.7 per cent to 41,987. Leapmotor achieved 14,594 new registrations, a 323.9 per cent increase. Since the beginning of the year, BYD recorded 283,997 vehicles (+134.6 per cent), Chery 260,650 (+255.9 per cent), SAIC 272,251 (+20.3 per cent), and Leapmotor 87,922 (+424.2 per cent), all significantly above last year’s levels.