As the transition to zero-emission electrified mobility accelerates, monitoring developments in the automotive market becomes an important benchmark for assessing how manufacturers are adapting their strategies to meet increasingly stringent emissions reduction targets.

To provide reliable and up-to-date data to the public debate, the think tanks Agora Verkehrswende (Germany), alinnea (Spain), ECCO Climate (Italy), the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the Institute for Mobility in Transition (IDDRI-IMT, France), and the Polish New Mobility Association (PSNM) publish monthly data on the average specific emissions of newly registered vehicle fleets across the European Economic Area, both at the aggregate and country level.

These data make it possible to track manufacturers’ compliance gap with the CO₂ reduction targets set for the 2025-2027 period under Regulation (EU) 2019/631, as well as progress towards the reduction of CO₂ emissions from new vehicles through to 2035.

alinnea provides the report’s findings with a particular focus on Spain, Europe’s fourth-largest automotive market.

The monitoring also includes detailed registration data by powertrain type, covering battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), full hybrids (HEVs), and mild hybrids (MHEVs). In addition, it provides a quarterly update on developments in charging infrastructure, the production, purchase and registration of vans, and the uptake of corporate electric vehicles.

Through these regular updates, our aim is to provide a valuable resource for automotive manufacturers, analysts, public authorities, trade unions, and environmental organisations. In short, for all stakeholders involved in the transition to zero-emission mobility.

The European Car Market Monitor will be published each month on alinnea’s website and will be distributed to the media and to members of the alinnea Community involved in electric mobility.

At a glance

• In January–June 2026, Europe’s battery electric car registrations recorded a 22% market share, up 5 percentage points from the same period in 2025.[1] Meanwhile, plug-in hybrid cars grew 1 percentage point to a 10% market share.

 

• Registrations of conventional combustion engine cars fell by 8 percentage points to a 30% market share in January–June 2026, while mild hybrids and full hybrids increased their shares to 25% and 14%, up 2 and 1 percentage points, respectively.

 

• Germany and France, currently Europe’s largest car markets, registered battery electric market shares of 26% and 28%, respectively, representing increases of 8 and 10 percentage points compared with January–June. Poland’s market share remained unchanged at 5%.

 

• Among the seven largest automakers in Europe, the BMW Group registered the highest share of battery electric cars in January–June 2026 at 28%. The Mercedes-Benz Group recorded an 8-percentage-point increase in battery electric car shares compared with January–June 2025, while the Hyundai, Renault, and Toyota groups all recorded increases of 6 percentage points. Toyota more than doubled its share from 4% to 10%.

 

• About 1.20 million public charging points had been installed in Europe by the end of June 2026. Belgium recorded the greatest growth from June 2025 to June 2026, with a 38% increase in direct current (DC) charging points and a 29% increase in alternating current (AC) charging points.

 

The Spanish Market

• Spain, the fourth-largest European market, also saw growth, with battery electric shares at 10%, up 2 percentage points from January–June.

 

CO₂ Emissions from the Sector

• From January 2025 to June 2026, adjusted carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions among manufacturer pools stood at approximately 95 g/km on average, about 1 gram away from the EU manufacturer average target for 2025–2027 of 93 g/km.

 

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¹ Geographic scope: To the greatest extent permitted by data availability, the definition of Europe used in the ICCT’s Market Monitor reports aligns with EU regulations. The European CO₂ standards for cars and vans applies to the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), excluding Liechtenstein. This includes the 27 Member States of the European Union plus Iceland and Norway.

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Passenger car registrations in Europe

In June 2026, new battery electric car registrations reached a 24% market share out of all new registrations. This brought the average share of BEVs among total new registrations in Europe to 22% in January–June 2026, surpassing the 2025 average and marking a 5-percentage-point increase compared with the same period in 2025 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1
Share of battery electric vehicles in total new passenger car registrations in Europe

Growth in the market share of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) was more modest. In January–June 2026, PHEVs accounted for an average of 10% of new car registrations in Europe, up 1 percentage point from January–June 2025.

Compared with the same period in 2025, full hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs) increased in market share by 1 and 2 percentage points, respectively, reaching shares of 14% and 25% in January–June 2026. Meanwhile, conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) comprised 30% of new registrations in January–June 2026. This is 8 percentage points lower than the market share during the same period in 2025 (see Figure 2).

 

Figure 2
Europe’s new car market share by powertrain type, January–June 2026 versus January–June 2025

 

Passenger car registrations by country

Total new registrations increased in most of the 10 largest European markets in January–June 2026, compared with January–June 2025. Austria and Denmark reported the largest increases, with new registrations up 15% and 13%, respectively (see Table A5 in the Appendix).

Looking at new BEV registrations in January–June 2026, Germany and France—currently Europe’s largest car markets—had BEV market shares of 26% and 28%, respectively. These represent increases of 8 and 10 percentage points, respectively, compared with the same period in 2025.

Italy and Spain, the third- and fourth-largest markets, had increases of 3 and 2 percentage points in January–June 2026, reaching BEV shares of 8% and 10%, respectively.

Nordic countries led Europe’s battery electric car registration shares in January–June 2026, with Norway and Denmark already reaching shares of 98% and 80%, respectively, followed by Finland (49%) and Iceland (43%). Sweden (42%), the Netherlands (37%), Belgium (36%), Luxembourg (29%), France (28%), and Germany (26%) all had BEV shares of 25% or greater (Figure 3). In January–June 2026, Denmark recorded the greatest increase in BEV market share (+16percentage points) compared with the same period in 2025.

 

Figure 3
Europe’s new car market share by country and powertrain type, January–June 2026

* Data for Portugal and Sweden cover January to May 2026 only.

Looking at other powertrains in the 10 largest European markets, PHEV shares were the highest in the Sweden (25%) and the Netherlands (24%) in January–June 2026. Poland (23%), France (22%), and Spain (21%) had the highest HEV shares, while MHEV shares were the highest in Italy, at 34%, followed by Poland with 30%.

 

CO₂ emissions performance by manufacturer pool and group

Under EU regulation, carmakers are required to reduce their CO₂ emissions from new cars incrementally through 2035. The current target value applies for each year from 2025 to 2029. However, compliance with the targets will first be assessed at the end of 2027 and will consider average CO₂ emissions for new car fleets over the 2025–2027 period. Automakers are permitted to combine their emissions performance across these 3 years through pooling arrangements (manufacturing pools) and may use compliance credits earned by selling zero- and low-emission vehicles (ZLEVs) as well as by deploying eco-innovations (i.e., technologies that deliver real-world CO₂ savings beyond what is measured over the standardized test cycle during type approval). Increasing the share of battery electric cars is the leading strategy used by manufacturers to achieve these reductions and avoid penalties.

In January–June 2026, manufacturer CO₂ emissions averaged 94 g CO₂/km. After accounting for compliance credits, manufacturers were, on average, in line with the 2026 target (see Table A2 of the Appendix). For the full reporting period from January 2025 to June 2026, adjusted emissions stood at around 95 g CO₂/km. When including compliance credits, manufacturing pools thus remained about 1 g CO₂/km short of the average target of 93 g CO₂/km for the 2025–2027 period (see Table A3 in the Appendix).

For the full January 2025–June 2026 reporting period, the BYD pool (42 g CO₂/km below), the Tesla pool (8 g CO₂/km below), Nissan (5 g CO₂/km below), the Mercedes-Benzpool (3 g CO₂/km below), the Toyota pool (2 g CO₂/km below), the BMW pool (2 g CO₂/km below), and the Kia pool (1 g CO₂/km below ) were all on track to meet their 2025–2027 targets. Together, these pools accounted for approximately 36% of new registrations in January–June 2026.

The Tesla pool increased its target overcompliance by 4 g CO₂/km compared with its May 2026 status, partly as a result of removing special purpose vehicles (SPVs) from the dataset, as these vehicles are not subject to CO₂ standards. This correction had a large impact on Ford, a member of the Tesla pool, reducing its estimated 2026 CO₂ emissions by about 7 g CO₂/km. Overall, however, excluding SPVs reduced estimated fleet-wide average 2026 CO₂ emission values by only about 1 CO₂/km.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Volkswagen pool, which accounted for the largest market share (26%), remained the furthest from its target, exceeding it by 7 g CO₂/km. Stellantis, the second largest pool by market share, reduced its target gap by 3 g CO₂/km compared with its May 2026 status, againpartly due to the removal of SPVs from the dataset. This correction had the largest impact on the estimated CO₂ performance of Fiat and Citroën, both part of the Stellantis pool, reducing their estimated 2026 CO₂ emissions values by approximately 17 g CO₂/km and 3 g CO₂/km, respectively (see Figure 4).

 

Figure 4
Average distance to 2025–2027 CO₂ targets for manufacturer pools and individual manufacturers

 

Note: Emission values include compliance credits. All CO₂ values are estimates according to the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). Only manufacturer pools and individual manufacturers with at least 1% market share in 2025 are shown. See the section on definitions, data sources, methodology, and assumptions for more information.

The Tesla and BYD pools had the largest BEV registration shares in June 2026, at 46% and 35%, respectively. The Mercedes-Benz (34%), Kia (34%), and BMW (33%) pools also had shares above the European average of 24%. Nissan and the Toyota pool (each at 13%) had the lowest BEV shares in June (see Table A1 in the Appendix).

Looking at individual car brands with market shares of 1% or greater, Tesla and BYD had the greatest over-compliance at 92 g CO₂/km and 74 g CO₂/km, respectively, below their projected brand-level average targets for 2025–2027 at the end of June 2026, followed by Volvo (28 g CO₂/km below), Mini (17 g CO₂/km below), and Cupra (16 g CO₂/km below). Nissan (26 g CO₂/km above), SEAT (24 g CO₂/km above), Mazda(20 g CO₂/km above), Mercedes-Benz (16 g CO₂/km above), and Dacia (14 g CO₂/km above) had the largest target gaps (see Table A4 in the Appendix).

Among the largest carmakers, the BMW Group had the greatest BEV share in January–June 2026 at 28%. The Mercedes-Benz Group increased its BEV share by 8 percentage points compared with January–June 2025, and the Hyundai, Renault, and Toyota groups all recorded increases in BEV shares of 6percentage points, with Toyota more than doubling its share from 4% to 10% (Table 1). With a 26% market share in January–June 2026, the Volkswagen Group increased its PHEV share by 3 percentage points relative to the same period in 2025, while the other carmakers either reduced their PHEV shares or saw no growth.

 

Table 1
Share of battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars for the top seven manufacturer groups, January–June 2026

CO₂ emissions by powertrain type

Of all powertrain types, battery electric cars have the largest potential to reduce total CO₂emissions.[2] When looking at new registrations of ICEVs (including HEVs and MHEVs) alone, CO₂ emissions averaged 130 g CO₂/km in January–June 2026. Including PHEVs reduced the average to 120 g CO₂/km, while the increasing market share of BEVs reduced average CO₂ emissions by an additional 27 g CO₂/km in January–June (see Figure 5).

 

Figure 5
Average CO₂ emissions of newly registered internal combustion engine vehicles and fleet-average reductions associated with including electrified powertrains

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[2] Marie Rajon Bernard et al., The EV Transition Check: Measuring Progress towards Zero-Emission for Passenger Cars in the European Union (International Council on Clean Transportation, 2025), https://theicct.org/publication/ev-transition-check-sep25/.

 

 

Looking at the relationship between electric car shares and average CO₂ emissions in January–June 2026, the Mercedes-Benz Group had among the highest average emissions of the top manufacturers in Europe, at a level comparable to the Volkswagen Group. At the same time, it recorded the highest combined share of PHEVs and BEVs among these manufacturers. This was largely driven by the high average CO₂ emissions of the group’s non-electrified powertrains, which stood at about 159 g CO₂/km in January–June 2026, the highest level among Europe’s largest carmaker groups. By contrast, Toyota, with its focus on hybrid powertrains, had average CO₂ emissions below its 2026 target in January–June despite maintaining the lowest electric vehicle share.

Among Europe’s top manufacturers, the BMW Group is the only case where emissions increased in 2026 compared with the previous year. This trend reversal is due in part to an increase in recorded PHEV emissions to more realistic levels resulting from the European Commission’s correction of the electric driving share assumed for type approval at the beginning of the year. However, it also mirrors a trend observed in previous CO₂ target cycles: without interim annual targets, manufacturers often scale back their CO₂reduction efforts once meeting their defined emissions target instead of using the momentum to reach the next target on a continuous reduction pathway. These delayed efforts have historically resulted in manufacturers claiming that the defined targets cannot be met and calling for last-minute policy action to weaken the targets (see Figure 6).[3]

 

Figure 6
Fleet-average CO₂ emissions compared with electric vehicle share by manufacturer group, January–June 2026 versus January–June 2025

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[3] Sonsoles Díaz et al., CO₂ Emissions from New Passenger Cars in Europe: Car Manufacturers’ Performance in 2024 (International Council on Clean Transportation, 2025), https://theicct.org/publication/co2-emissions-from-new-passenger-cars-in-europe-car-manufacturers-performance-in-2024-dec25/.

 

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Spotlight: Charging Infrastructure Development

The deployment of public charging infrastructure is expanding steadily in Europe. About 1.20 million public charging points had been installed in Europe by the end of the second quarter (Q2) of 2026, up from around 1.04 million at the end of Q2 2025. For AC charging, this represents a 12% increase since the end of Q2 2025, while DC charging points showed even greater growth, increasing 29% since the end of Q2 2025. By the end of June 2026, approximately 79% of Europe’s public charging points supplied AC, while the remaining 21% supplied DC.

Among the 10 markets with the highest number of installed chargers, Belgium recorded the largest growth in DC chargers by the end of Q2 2026 (+38%) compared with the end of Q2 2025, followed by Italy (+37%) and Denmark (+35%). At +29%, Belgium also saw the largest growth in AC chargers (Table 2).

 

Table 2
Number of publicly accessible charging points by country and power output

Note: See the section on definitions, data sources, methodology, and assumptions for details.

 

Europe’s public charging network is expanding not only in size but also in charging capacity, with the average power rating of public chargers doubling from 25 kW as of January 2021 to 51 kW as of June 2026 (Figure 7). This trend reflects the increase in charging capacity of electric vehicles. However, the shift toward higher power chargers is not uniform across Europe. In the Netherlands and Belgium, DC chargers accounted for just 3% and 8% of the network, respectively, by the end of Q2 2026. Meanwhile, growth in Norway’s public charging network has stabilized, but the share of fast chargers has continued to increase, reaching 49% by June 2026. As a result, Norway had the highest average charging power output in Europe at 107 kW by the end of Q2 2026.

Figure 7
Number of publicly accessible charging points installed in Europe by charger type, January 2021–June 2026

 

At the end of Q2 2026, there were on average roughly 9.8 22 kW-equivalent publicly accessible charging points installed per thousand passenger cars and vans on the road in Europe, up from 7.5 at the end of Q2 2025 (Figure 7). With about 47 22 kW-equivalent publicly accessible charging points per thousand passenger cars and vans, Denmark led Europe in charging infrastructure, followed by Norway (41), Sweden (32), and Belgium (24). Italy (4) and Spain (4) fell below the European average for publicly accessible charging points.

 

Figure 8
22 kW-equivalent publicly accessible charging points installed per thousand passenger cars and vans, by power output and country, by the end of Q2 2026

 

Note: The width of the bars corresponds to passenger car and van stock size estimates as of the end of 2025. 22 kW-equivalent is used to account for different power outputs while allowing for comparison among countries and over time independent of electric vehicle uptake.