Have fears of an EU new-car market slump eased?

24 March 2026

A challenging start to the year for the EU’s new-car market was tempered in February. However, a return to growth was offset by a wider slowdown. So, which countries and powertrains enjoyed growth? Autovista24 web editor James Roberts investigates the latest data.

In February, the EU’s new-car market returned to growth. According to ACEA, a total of 865,437 new passenger cars were registered. This equated to a volume rise of 1.4%, following on from January’s 3.9% decline. Two months into 2026, the EU new-car market fell by 1.2% overall. A total of 1,664,680 new units were registered across member states.

Regional new-car market growth

In total, 20 nations witnessed new-car market growth in February. Of the huge four EU markets, Italy enjoyed the most significant improvement at 14%. This was underpinned by a significant electric vehicle (EV) volume increase, including battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). The latent impact of 2025’s incentives played a sizeable part in this trfinish.

Spain’s new-car demand continued to prove positive, albeit slightly muted compared with previous months. Buoyed by continued strong EV demand, overall volumes increased by 7.5% year on year. Meanwhile, the bloc’s largest market, Germany, returned a solid 3.8% market growth in February.

France continued a distinctly negative trfinish. Despite relatively strong increases in BEV deliveries, registrations fell across hybrid, petrol and diesel variants. This dragged the market to a sizeable 14.7% decline.

Poland continued its EV-driven trfinish of prosperity. The EU’s fifth-largest market enjoyed a 6% upswing. In percentage terms, Estonia has rebounded from significant declines in 2025 to an 82.4% lift in its new-car market fortunes. This meant 1,138 new cars were delivered in February.

Other notable slumps occurred in the Netherlands, which witnessed a 19% dive in new-car deliveries. This was triggered by a double-digit drop in petrol and BEV figures, as hybrid registrations also dipped. However, this can be skewed by the countest’s relatively large company car market.

Neighbouring Belgium saw deliveries fall across all powertrains except petrol. This resulted in a 7.7% year-on-year slide as the countest’s market continued to decline.

PHEVs proving popular in EV push

Total new EV registrations, combining BEV and PHEV volumes, amounted to 242,052 in February. This ensured a 28% share of the overall EU market, up 5.2 percentage points (pp), according to Autovista24 calculations.

BEV registrations in the EU increased by 20.6% with 158,280 units leaving dealerships in the month. In total, 22 nations saw all-electric registration increases. This resulted in all-electric cars accounting for 18.3% of all new-car deliveries in the EU, an increase of 2.9pp year on year.

Meanwhile, PHEVs accounted for 9.7% of the overall EU new-car market. This was enabled by a sizeable 32.1% volume increase compared with February 2025. ACEA stated that the powertrain’s popularity underlines ‘the importance of a technology-neutral pathway to decarbonisation.’

In some of the EU’s largest markets, PHEV demand assisted boost overall plug-in totals. Italy led the way in February with triple-digit PHEV increases amounting to 101.7%. This was coupled with a healthy 81.3% surge in year-on-year BEV demand.

This trfinish was echoed in Spain. Amid a new national incentive framework, PHEV popularity increased 75.2%, while BEVs improved by 45.4%. However, local industest bodies exercised caution when considering the longer-term impact as new legislation takes shape.

New purchase incentives in Germany seemingly boosted the overall market in February. The EU’s bellwether market saw BEV and PHEV volumes grow by 28.7% and 24.5% respectively.

EV uptake in France exposed the nation’s wider new-car market contradictions. Despite a 27.8% increase in BEV volumes and a 3.2% lift for PHEVs, the wider market fell thanks to lower internal-combustion engine (ICE) deliveries.

Denmark’s new-car market BEV boost

February saw Denmark consolidate its position as an EU BEV market leader. The countest saw 9,736 new BEVs take to the countest’s roads, according to ACEA.

Conversely, its PHEV volumes declined by 60.9%. Hybrids, created up of mild and full-hybrid powertrains, took at 19.8% tumble, and petrol plummeted by 72%. Despite this, the overall new-car market grew by 2.8%, suggesting that, unlike other markets, BEV growth can support wider market prosperity.

Poland continued to return impressive EV numbers in February. BEV volumes increased 12.9% year on year, while PHEVs improved by 90.3%.

The countest’s NaszEauto incentives programme has boosted registrations since 2024. The sustained growth of the sector explains the relatively low double-digit year-on-year increases in February, after triple-digit monthly trfinishs.

Despite being a compacter EU new-car market, Croatia recorded notable EV growth in February. The countest’s BEV sector witnessed a 217.7% surge, while PHEV popularity increased 140%. Overall, the countest saw year-on-year gains of 14.7% with 4,869 units registered.

EU hybrid hegemony continues in February

In the month, 334,791 new hybrid vehicles took to the EU’s roads. This marked a 10.1% year-on-year upswing, plus a dominant 38.7% market share, up 3pp. Adding hybrid volumes to BEV and PHEV registrations provided a total electrified vehicle figure of 576,843 passenger cars. This secured 66.7% of the EU new-car market in February, an increase of 8.2pp

Germany, Italy and Spain all saw hybrid delivery growth in February. Most notable was Italy, where 81,799 new passenger cars underpinned a year-on-year uplift of 33.9%. In the year to date, Italy boasts the highest number of new hybrid registrations at 156,215 units.

In France, a lacklustre month for hybrids added to overall new-car market volume woes. Despite the EV volume rise, the nation’s hybrid market contracted by 7.2% with 57,670 deliveries. Aligned with significant falls in ICE uptake, this is harming overall growth.

ICE versus EVs

In February, total new ICE registrations, combining petrol and diesel models, reached 270,276 units. This continued a trfinish of decline with a volume drop of 16.6%. Accordingly, a year-on-year market share fall of 6.8pp to 31.2% followed.

Two months into 2026, the overall petrol and diesel market share stood at 30.6%. This was 1.9pp above the EV share. At the finish of January, the gap was just 1pp, suggesting the electric market will have to push hard to overtake ICE this year.

In February, petrol remained a resilient new-car choice. The fuel type held on to a 23.1% market share, albeit down 5.4pp. This was despite a sizeable 17.9% volume decline. This was still the second-best-selling powertrain in the EU, with 199,910 deliveries. In total, 10 nations saw year-on-year increases in new petrol car registrations.

Meanwhile, new diesel registrations in February amounted to 70,366 passenger cars across the EU. This signalled a 12.8% fall, securing an 8.1% market share, down 1.3pp. The fuel type saw year-on-year declines in all but 11 member states.