EU car market: Almost one in three new cars sold in September is fully electric
EU new car registrations rose 9.3% in September, with battery-electric cars up 72.9%. Gasoline and diesel cars have each lost about a fifth of their volume since January.
Symbolic image · Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Europe's car market keeps growing. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), EU new car registrations rose 5.7% in January through September 2026 from a year earlier. ACEA cited "notable resilience" despite "persistently rising energy prices and geopolitical headwinds." In September alone, 971,048 new cars were registered, up 9.3%, according to electrive. Of those, 290,117 were battery-electric, up 72.9%, for a market share of 29.9%.
Since January, battery-electric cars have reached 1,931,465 registrations and a 22.7% share, up from 16.1% a year earlier. Hybrids remain the most popular choice with 3,090,530 cars and 36.3%, while plug-in hybrids hold 10.1%. Gasoline cars fell 19.1% to a 21.2% share, and diesel dropped 19.5% to 7.1%. Combined, combustion-only cars now account for just 28.2% of new cars, down from 36.9% a year earlier.
In Germany, 88,599 electric cars were registered in September, up 94.7% year on year, for a 34.5% share, according to electrive. Since January, electric car registrations in Germany are up 58.1% while gasoline cars are down 22.7%, ACEA said. In France, electric sales rose 79.1% year to date. Among Chinese brands, BYD increased its EU registrations by 111.4% to 28,309 cars in September, according to electrive.