Sales of light vehicles in Europe may increase by 2% in 2026 and production by 2.8%
- European car market (30 countries = EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway) Passenger cars + Light utility vehicles: Registration figures show 15.1 million vehicles sold in Europe in 2025, compared to 14.95 million in 2024, representing an increase of 0.8% (+2.3% for passenger cars and -8.9% for Light utility vehicles).
- For 2026, the European car market (passenger cars + Light utility vehicles) is expected to remain broadly stable, with slight growth driven almost exclusively by the rise of electric vehicles, while internal combustion engine and plug-in hybrid volumes stagnate or decline. Therefore, no real rebound is expected, but with a profound restructuring of powertrains (BEVs could represent 25% of the European market in 2026 compared to 20% in 2025), accompanied by a modest recovery in the light commercial vehicle market. Inovev forecasts a small increase in the European market for passenger cars and Light utility vehicles, to 15.37 million units, representing a modest increase of 2%.
- European automotive production (30 countries = EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway) Passenger cars + Light utility vehicles: Inovev estimates 13.5 million vehicles produced in Europe in 2025, compared to 14.12 million in 2024, representing a decline of 4.4%, while the European passenger car + light commercial vehicle market grew by 0.8%. This discrepancy is explained by the fact that imports increased, especially from China, while exports decreased, primarily to China and the United States.
- Inovev's forecast for 2026 remains at +2.8%, projecting 13.88 million units produced in 2026. This volume includes the start of production by Chinese brands in Europe.