Cars, weak start in Europe despite resilience of electrics

In Germany, demand for electrified cars could rise further after the government announced in mid-January a EUR 3 billion subsidy programme aimed at lower and middle income groups. The measure is open to all manufacturers, including Chinese ones. BYD, MG and other Chinese brands led the way in Europe last year, with almost 11% of sales of electrified vehicles.

Meanwhile, Byd's strong growth in European registrations continued in January. The Chinese group, according to Acea data, opened the year with +165% to 18,242 units and a market share up to 1.9% from 0.7%. In the EU alone, registrations totalled 13,982 (+175.3%) and market share to 1.7% from 0.6%.

Tesla's weakness persists, however. In Europe in January, Elon Musk's carmaker had 8,075 registrations, down 17%, with market share down to 0.8% from 1%. Better in the European Union, registrations were 7,187, a limited drop of 1.6 per cent and market share stable at 0.9 per cent.

Among the Chinese groups marketed in Europe, Saic Motors slowed down: -1.8% to 19,254 registrations in January 2026 and stable share at 2%. In the EU, -0.8% to 13,790 units and stable share at 1.7%.

The top car group in Europe by market share was again Volkswagen in January 2026, with 256,728 registrations, down 3.8% year-on-year, and market share at 26.7% from 26.8%. Second group is Stellantis and third is the Renault group, with a share of 8.7%, down from 9.8% a year earlier and 83,201 registrations (-15%).

As far as the European Union is concerned, Acea notes that electric cars had a share of 19.3% in January 2026, up from 14.9% a year earlier. Sixty per cent of Bev car registrations came from four markets with contrasting performances: France (+52.1%) and Germany (+23.8%) while Belgium (-11.5%) and the Netherlands (-35.4%) started the year in the red. Hybrid car registrations took 38.6% of the market, remaining the preferred choice of consumers in the EU, supported mainly by sales in Italia (+24.9%) and Spain (+9%), with France remaining stable year-on-year. Looking at the top four European markets, Germany saw a 1.8% year-on-year drop in hybrid car registrations in January. Plug-in hybrids achieved a 9.8% market share in the EU in January, up from 7.4% a year ago, thanks mainly to Italia (+134.2%), Spain (+66.7%), and Germany (+23%). Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 30.1%, down from 39.5% in January 2025.

In detail, in January 2026, petrol car registrations decreased by 28.2%, with declines in all major markets. France recorded the most significant drop, with -48.9%, followed by Germany (-29.9%), Italia (-25.5%) and Spain (-22.5%). With 175,989 new cars registered last month, petrol's market share dropped to 22% from 29.5% in the same month last year. The diesel car market continued its downward trend, with registrations dropping by 22.3% to 8.1% market share.

Carmakers continue to adapt to a volatile electric transition. Earlier this month, Stellantis announced write-downs of EUR 22.2 billion, largely related to unprofitable EV projects. Last year, Porsche and parent company Volkswagen also scaled back overly ambitious electric launch plans, veering towards adding plug-in hybrid models to their ranges.