ACEA — 2026-06-23
News from Brussels
The market continued to benefit from robust consumer demand for a range of electrified technologies across key European markets, sustained by new and revised tax benefits and incentive schemes. Hybrid-electric vehicles remained the most popular powertrain choice among buyers, while battery-electric cars accounted for one in five registrations. Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids captured 9.7% of the EU market.
New EU car registrations by power source
Up until May 2026, battery-electric cars accounted for 20% of the EU market, an increase from 15.3% a year earlier. Hybrid-electric car registrations captured 37.8% of the market, remaining the preferred choice among consumers in the EU. Moreover, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars declined to 30.1%, down from 38%.
Electric cars
In the first five months of 2026, 950,521 new battery-electric cars were registered, capturing 20% of the EU market. Three of the four largest EU markets, which together represented 63% of all battery-electric car registrations, posted strong growth: Italy (+75.7%), France (+55.4%), and Germany (+40.9%). By contrast, Belgium (+2.8%) experienced only subdued growth compared with these markets.
May 2026’s YTD figures also showed new EU hybrid-electric car registrations rising to 1,795,071 units, supported by growth in Italy (+24.5%) and Spain (+19.5%), with Germany (+5.4%) and France (+2.2%) also contributing positively. Overall, hybrid-electric models accounted for 37.8% of the total EU market.
Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars continued to grow, reaching 460,217 units in the May 2026 YTD. This was driven by rising volumes in key markets such as Italy (+84.9%), Spain (+46.5%), and Germany (+16.1%). Therefore, new plug-in-hybrid electric cars now represent 9.7% of EU registrations, up from 8.3% over the same period in 2025.
Petrol and diesel cars
By the end of May 2026, petrol car registrations declined by 18.2%, with decreases across all major markets. France recorded the sharpest drop, with registrations plummeting by 36.8%, whereas other key markets also saw double-digit decreases: Spain (-20.3%), Germany (-18.5%), and Italy (-17.3%).
With 1,065,071 new cars registered in the last five months, the market share for petrol fell to 22.4% from 28.5% in May 2025 YTD. In addition, the diesel car market continued its downward trend, although at a slower pace, with registrations declining by 16.6% and accounting for 7.6% of new car registrations, down from 9.5%.