New car sales up 5.7% in first half of 2026
New car sales in Europe rose 5.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, according to new figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
The uptick was driven by growing demand for electric vehicles, with 1,220,890 new battery-electric cars registered in the first six months of the year. That represents 20.7% of the European market.
Meanwhile, hybrid car sales rose to 2,198,148 units to account for 37.3% of the total market and plug-in registrations totalled 577,735 units, which is 9.8% of all sales.
The data also revealed the continued decline of petrol and diesel sales during the year.
New petrol car sales fell 17% to 1,309,153 units, with market share down from 28.4% in the first half of 2025 to 22.2%, while diesel sales saw their market share drop from 16.5% to 7.5%.
