EU passenger car registrations dropped 3.9% yoy to 799,625 units in January 2026, reversing a 5.8% rise in the previous month and marking the first contraction since June. The bloc’s four largest markets all posted declines: Germany (-6.6%), France (-6.6%), Spain (-33.8%), and Italy (-16.2%), highlighting broad-based weakness at the start of the year. In contrast, battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations jumped 24.2% from a year earlier. Growth was driven by strong gains in Germany (23.8%), France (52.1%), Denmark (52.7%), and Italy (40.7%). About 154,230 new BEVs were registered, accounting for 19.3% of the total EU market share, up from 14.9% a year ago. In 2025, overall EU car registrations rose 1.8% compared with 2024.
