European Car Market Monitor: May 2026 (ICCT)

Summary

• In January–May 2026, Europe's battery electric car registrations recorded a 21% market share, up 5 percentage points from the same period in 2025, while plug-in hybrids grew 2 percentage points to 10%.p.1
• Conventional combustion engine cars fell by 9 percentage points to a 31% market share, while mild hybrids and full hybrids rose to 25% and 14%.p.1
• Germany and Italy registered battery electric market shares of 24% and 8%, while France and Spain reached 28% and 9%.p.1
• Adjusted manufacturer CO2 emissions stood at 96 g/km on average, 3 grams away from the EU target of 93 g/km for 2025–2027.p.1
• The BMW Group registered the highest share of battery electric cars among the seven largest automakers at 27%, and Toyota doubled its share from 5% to 10%.p.1
• Corporate fleets account for around 60% of new car registrations in Europe.p.1

Key insights

1. New battery electric car registrations reached a 22% market share in May 2026.p.3
2. The BYD pool (40 g CO2/km below), Nissan (6 below), the Tesla pool (4 below) and the BMW pool (2 below) were on track for their 2025–2027 targets, while the Volkswagen pool (+7 g CO2/km) was furthest from its target.p.5
3. The Tesla and BYD pools had the largest BEV registration shares in May 2026, at 41% and 35%, while the Toyota pool had 12%.p.5
4. ICEV registrations averaged 131 g CO2/km, including PHEVs reduced this to 121 g CO2/km, and BEVs cut a further 26 g CO2/km.p.6
5. The Mercedes-Benz Group's non-electrified powertrains averaged about 163 g CO2/km, the highest among Europe's largest carmaker groups.p.7
6. In France, large companies reached a BEV share of 44% in May 2026, while SMEs reached 23%.p.10
7. PHEV shares were highest in the Netherlands (25%) and Sweden (24%), while MHEV shares were highest in Italy at 34%.p.4