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. Data by propulsion and summary by best and worst performing countries will be uploaded to this article when made available to us. 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.

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.

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.