New vehicle registrations in the EU have risen by 5.7 per cent since the start of the year. The market has benefited from robust consumer demand for a range of electrified technologies, driven primarily by government incentive schemes in several EU countries. Hybrid vehicles are the most popular powertrain type among buyers, whilst battery electric vehicles achieved a market share of 20.7 per cent. Furthermore, plug-in hybrids captured 9.8 per cent of the EU market. All this is taking place against a backdrop of persistent geopolitical headwinds, which have weighed on the outlook.
New vehicle registrations in the EU by propulsion type
By June 2026, battery electric vehicles accounted for 20.7 per cent of the EU market, compared with 15.6 per cent the previous year. Registrations of hybrid electric vehicles reached a market share of 37.3 per cent, remaining the preferred choice of consumers in the EU. At the same time, the combined market share of petrol and diesel passenger cars fell to 29.7 per cent, compared with 37.8 per cent the previous year.
Electric drives
In the first half of 2026, 1,220,890 new battery-electric passenger cars were registered, representing a 20.7 per cent share of the EU market. Three of the four largest EU markets, which together accounted for 63 per cent of all battery electric vehicle registrations, recorded strong growth: France (+62.9 per cent), Germany (+48 per cent) and Denmark (+41.2 per cent). Belgium also recorded an increase (+8.2 per cent), albeit at a more moderate pace.
Figures for the first half of 2026 also showed that new registrations of hybrid electric vehicles in the EU rose to 2,198,148 units, driven by growth in Italy (+23 per cent) and Spain (+20.8 per cent), whilst Germany (+6.9 per cent) and France (+3.2 per cent) also recorded increases. Overall, hybrid electric vehicles accounted for 37.3 per cent of the total EU market.
Registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles continued to rise, reaching 577,735 units in the first half of 2026. This was driven by rising sales figures in key markets such as Italy (+84.3 per cent), Spain (+39 per cent) and Germany (+17.9 per cent). New plug-in hybrid electric vehicles now account for 9.8 per cent of EU registrations, compared with 8.5 per cent in the same period of 2025.
Petrol and diesel cars
By the end of June 2026, registrations of petrol-powered passenger cars had fallen by 17.2 per cent, with declines recorded across all major markets. France saw the sharpest drop, at 34.2 per cent, whilst other key markets also recorded double-digit declines: Spain (-18.5 per cent), Germany (-18.2 per cent) and Italy (-17.1 per cent). With 1,309,153 new registrations in the first six months of 2026, the market share of petrol vehicles fell from 28.4 per cent in the first half of 2025 to 22.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, the market for diesel vehicles continued its downward trend: registrations fell by 16.5 per cent, and their share of new registrations dropped from 9.4 per cent to 7.5 per cent.
