The European Union’s new-car market opened 2026 on a weak note, with registrations falling for the second consecutive January. A total of 799,624 new cars were registered across the 27 member states, down 3.9% year on year.

Only 10 countries recorded growth, ending a six-month run of consecutive increases across the bloc. Performance varied sharply among the EU’s largest markets. Germany recorded 193,981 registrations, a decline of 6.6%, while France also fell by 6.6% to 107,157 units.

Spain managed a modest 1.1% increase, while Italy performed best among the four largest markets, with registrations rising 6.2% to 141,993 units.

Hybrids Still Lead

Hybrid vehicles, including mild and full hybrids, remained the EU’s most popular powertrain in January. Registrations rose 6.2% to 308,364 units, giving hybrids a record 38.6% market share, up 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

The picture differed by country. Germany saw hybrid registrations fall 1.8% to 58,206 units, while France recorded almost no growth at just 0.1%. Spain increased by 9%, and Italy posted a much stronger 24.9% rise, with 74,422 hybrids registered. Across the EU, 15 of 27 member states recorded year-on-year hybrid growth.

Plug-In Hybrids Surge

Italy stood out for plug-in hybrid growth. Registrations reached 11,638 units in January, an increase of 134.2% year on year. The Netherlands moved in the opposite direction for BEVs, with battery-electric registrations falling 35.4%, but PHEV demand rose 49.1% to 8,025 units.

Austria also recorded double-digit growth in both BEVs and PHEVs, with increases of 23% and 66.7% respectively, despite the absence of direct EV purchase subsidies.

Petrol and Diesel Decline

Internal-combustion models continued to lose ground. Combined petrol and diesel registrations fell 26.7% to 240,539 units, reducing their market share to 30.1%, down 9.4 percentage points.

Petrol registrations dropped 28.2% to 175,989 units, leaving the fuel type with a 22% share. Diesel fell 22.3% to 64,550 units and declined in 23 of the EU’s 27 markets.

The gap between combustion cars and plug-in models has now narrowed considerably. Petrol and diesel exceeded combined BEV and PHEV registrations by only 7,568 units in January, while their market shares were separated by just one percentage point. That suggests the weak overall start to 2026 may conceal a more important shift: buyers are moving steadily away from conventional engines and towards electrified alternatives.