Europeans continue to abandon cars with internal combustion engines. In the first five months of 2026, the EU car market grew by 4%, and the share of electric vehicles reached 20% for the first time. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
From January to May 2026, 950,500 new electric vehicles were registered in EU countries. Their market share rose to 20% from 15.3% a year earlier. In other words, every fifth new car sold in the European Union is now fully electric.
Despite the rapid growth of electric cars, hybrids remain the most popular type of passenger car in Europe. During the period under review, Europeans bought nearly 1.8 million such cars, bringing their market share to 37.8%. The main sales growth was also driven by Italy, Spain, Germany and France.
Plug-in hybrids (PHEV) continue to strengthen their positions. From January to May, their sales rose to 460,200 vehicles, and market share increased from 8.3% to 9.7%.
Sales of petrol cars fell by 18.2%. The most significant decline occurred:
As a result, the share of cars with internal combustion engines on the market decreased from 28.5% to 22.4%.
Diesel cars also continue to lose popularity. Their sales fell by 16.6%, and market share dropped to 7.6% from 9.5% a year earlier.
In total, electric cars, hybrids and plug-in hybrids now account for almost 68% of the new passenger car market in the European Union. Thus, today almost two out of three new cars sold in the EU are electrified vehicles.
Earlier, Kursiv Avto reported on how car leasing in Europe helps drivers switch to electric vehicles.