In February 2026, passenger car registrations in the European Union saw a modest year-on-year increase of 1.4%, reaching 865,437 units. This marks a notable rebound from the 3.9% decline recorded in January, as demand improved further in key markets. Among the major EU markets, growth was led by strong performance in Germany, the largest market by registration volume, where registrations rose by 3.8% year-on-year. Spain posted a 7.5% increase, while Italy saw a significant 14% growth. However, France remained a clear drag, with registrations falling by 14.7%.

Over the first two months of the year, the overall EU car market remained weak, with demand yet to fully recover. In contrast, the electric vehicle segment demonstrated noticeably stronger performance, showing accelerated adoption against the trend. While EU passenger car registrations in February only saw a slight 1.4% year-on-year increase, and year-to-date figures still reflect a 1.2% decline, indicating that the broader market is not experiencing a strong recovery, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations surged by over 20% in February. Moreover, the BEV market share for January–February climbed to 18.8%, up from 15.2% during the same period a year earlier.

Year-to-date data through February shows that while overall EU registrations declined by 1.2%, the BEV segment stood out as the brightest spot. From January to February 2026, BEVs accounted for 18.8% of the EU market, significantly higher than the 15.2% share recorded a year earlier. In February alone, BEV registrations jumped by 20.6% to 158,280 units. Germany led with a sharp 28.7% increase, followed by France with 27.8% growth, Denmark with 26.1%, and Italy with a remarkable 81.3% surge.

Among automakers in the EU year-to-date through February, Chinese manufacturer Byd Company Limited recorded the largest sales increase, soaring 179% to 29,291 units. Meanwhile, U.S. electric vehicle leader Tesla Motors saw a 17% rise in sales, reaching 20,941 units. In contrast, Volvo, Ford, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi Motors experienced declines during the same period.