ACEA: EVs hit 21.7 percent of the EU market as Chery and BYD gain ground

Europe's new passenger car market is growing again, but its structure is shifting. ACEA data show 7.55 million new passenger cars registered in the EU from January to August 2026, a 5.3 percent increase over the same period last year. Growth continued despite geopolitical tensions and higher energy prices. In August alone, the EU market rose 4.5 percent year on year, following a 3 percent increase in July.

EVs and hybrids capture market share

Registrations of pure electric vehicles (BEVs) reached 1.64 million in the first eight months of 2026, up 44.9 percent from a year earlier. Their market share climbed from 15.8 to 21.7 percent. France (+74.2 percent), Germany (+53.1 percent) and Denmark (+40.9 percent) saw the fastest growth. Plug-in hybrids accounted for 758,000 units (+19.6 percent), with their share rising from 8.8 to 10 percent. Italy (+77.6 percent), Spain (+33.9 percent) and Germany (+15.6 percent) led the increase in that segment.

Hybrids, combining full and mild variants, remain the largest segment with 2.76 million registrations and a 36.6 percent share (+11.1 percent year on year). In August, the EU registered 708,211 new passenger cars, including 196,486 pure electric and 78,426 plug-in hybrids. BEVs reached a 27.7 percent share, while PHEVs hit 11.1 percent. Together, vehicles capable of external charging made up nearly 39 percent of the market. BEV registrations jumped 62.7 percent from 120,797 units a year earlier, and PHEV registrations rose 10.8 percent from 70,545 units. Germany registered 68,930 electric cars, a 75.1 percent year-on-year increase.

Who loses, who gains

ACEA's brand ranking for the eight-month period counts 9,192,528 new passenger cars in Europe, up 5.8 percent year on year. Volkswagen remains the leader with 929,701 cars, but its registrations fell 3.1 percent and its share dropped 0.9 percentage points. Skoda holds second place (588,752 units, +0.2 percentage points), ahead of Toyota (571,802 units, -0.3 percentage points). Dacia and Hyundai lost 0.7 percentage points each, while Ford shed 0.6 percentage points.

At the other end of the table, Chery Group (+1.6 percentage points) and BYD (+1.4 percentage points) posted the largest gains in market share. Leapmotor, another Chinese brand, recorded the fastest registration growth at +449.9 percent. Geely Group, which ACEA classifies as including Volvo, Polestar and the Smart joint venture with Mercedes, held its share at 2.7 percent. BYD's share of the EU market rose from 0.9 to 2.4 percent. Pressure on European manufacturers is real, but it is growing mainly in the alternative powertrain segment. The competition today is not over base price but over positioning in the powertrain catalogue.