EU Car Registrations Fall for First Time in 7 Months

EU passenger car registrations dropped 3.9% yoy to a five-month low of 799,625 units in January 2026, reversing a 5.8% rise in the previous month and marking the first contraction since June. The bloc’s four largest markets all posted declines: Germany (-6.6%), France (-6.6%), Spain (-33.8%), and Italy (-16.2%), highlighting broad-based weakness at the start of the year.However, battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations jumped 24.2% from a year earlier. Growth was driven by strong gains in Germany (23.8%), France (52.1%), Denmark (52.7%), and Italy (40.7%). About 154,230 new BEVs were registered, accounting for 19.3% of the total EU market share, up from 14.9% a year ago. In 2025, overall EU car registrations rose 1.8% compared with 2024.

Passenger car registrations in the European Union increased 5.8% year-on-year to a six-month high of 963,319 units in December 2025, following a 2.1% rise in November. This marked the sixth consecutive month of growth, with two of the EU’s four largest markets recording gains. Registrations in Germany rose by 9.7%, while those in Italy increased by 2.3%. Meanwhile, registrations in Spain fell 2.2%, while those in France dropped 5.8%. In the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment, registrations surged 51.0%, supported particularly by jumps in the Netherlands (80.1%), Germany (63.2%), Belgium (52.3%), France (42.5%), and Spain (26.8%). For the entire of 2025, total EU car registrations rose 1.8% compared with 2024. Meanwhile, BEVs totaled 1.9 million registrations, capturing 17.4% of the EU market, up from a low baseline of 13.6% in the year to December 2024.

Passenger car registrations in the European Union climbed 2.1% year on year to 887,491 units in November 2025, following a 5.8% rise in October. This marked the fifth consecutive month of growth, with two of the EU’s four largest markets recording gains. Registrations in Spain rose 12.9%, while those in Germany increased by 2.5%. Meanwhile, registrations in France edged down 0.3%, and they remained unchanged in Italy. In the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment, registrations jumped 44.1%, boosted particularly by surges in Spain (60.9%), Germany (58.5%), France (47.5%), and the Netherlands (26.5%). For the first eleven months of 2025, total EU car registrations grew 1.4% compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, BEVs totaled 1.7 million registrations, capturing 16.9% of the EU market, up from a low baseline of 13.4% in the year to November 2024.