Europe February 2026: Skoda up 18.6%, Fiat #10, Renault Clio most popular again

The Renault Clio is the best-selling vehicle in Europe for the 2nd straight month.

981,465 new cars hit European roads in February, including EU, UK and EFTA. This is a small 1.9% year-on-year improvement. After a January volume off 3.6%, the year-to-date tally after two months remains in negative at -1% to 1,947,728. ACEA has the market up 1.7% to 979,321 for the month and down -1% to 1,940,321 year-to-date. BEV sales are up 15.8% to 190,683 and 19.5% share vs. 17.1% a year ago in February 2025. After two months, BEVs gain 14.8% to 379,604 units and 19.6% share vs. 16.9% in 2025. The biggest BEV markets in February are Germany at 46,275 (+28.7%), France at 32,370 (+27.8%), the UK at 21,840 (+2.8%), Italy at 12,541 (+81.3%), Belgium at 11,677 (-10.5%) and Denmark at 9,736 (+26.1%).

 In the OEM ranking, the VW Group matches the market at +2.1% YoY, but the best performer near the top is Stellantis up a stunning 10.5% for the month and 8.1% YTD. SAIC Motor (+10.4%) is the only additional gainer in the Top 10, with Ford Motor (-13.7%) and the Renault Group (-13.1%) hit the hardest.

The Toyota Yaris Cross is up to a record 2nd place in Europe in February.

Looking at brands, Volkswagen skids down -4.4% to below 100,000 units for the 2nd straight month and only the 3rd time since last August. Skoda (+18.6%) surges ahead and climbs back up to a record #2, also hit last May, July, October and November. Below, Toyota (-2.8%) is relegated to 3rd place but remains #2 YTD for now. Renault (-6.4%), BMW (-4.8%) and Peugeot (-8.2%) all underperform, while Audi (+3.2%) edges up, Mercedes (-0.7%) is stable, Dacia (-21.7%) sinks again and Fiat (+50.7%) soars to #10 overall, the brand’s first European Top 10 finish since October 2021. Opel (+29.6%), Citroen (+11.3%) and MG (+10.6%) also shine below, but BYD (+164.2%) tops them all and repeats at #20. Notice also Tesla up 9.9% to #21.

The Elroq helps push Skoda to #2 brand in February.

Model-wise, the Renault Clio (-11.8%) repeats at #1, a position it has now held for 6 out of the past 11 months. 40% of its volume comes from France and an estimated 18% from the new 6th generation. #7 in January, the Toyota Yaris Cross (+3.6%) jumps back up to 2nd place overall, a new ranking record for the nameplate as its previous best was #3. The VW T-Roc (-5.7%) isn’t benefiting from its new generation just yet and drops to #3 ahead of a diving VW Golf (-11.7%). The Dacia Sandero (-33.6%) is back up 9 ranks on last month to #5 but still sinks YoY. It ranks #9 year-to-date vs. #1 over the Full Year 2025. The Fiat Panda (+4.7%) is in solid share at #8 while the Tesla Model Y (+22.3%) is up 28 spots on January to #14. Among recent launches, the Skoda Elroq is on top at #28 ahead of the Citroen C3 Aircross (#35), Fiat Grande Panda (#36) and Dacia Bigster (#40). 

Previous month: Europe January 2026: Renault Clio and VW T-Roc best-sellers, registrations off -3.6%

One year ago: Europe February 2025: BEVs up 25.5%, Tesla off -43.4%, Citroen C3 up to record #2

Full February 2026 Top 15 OEMs, Top 83 All brands and Top 562 All models below.