Europe July 2026: Dacia Sandero back to #1, Mercedes GLC breaks into Top 10

First European Top 10 finish for the Mercedes GLC.

Dataforce has the European new car market (EU+EFTA+UK) up 4.1% year-on-year in July to 1,109,960 units. This gives a year-to-date tally up 5.7% to 8,356,696. According to JATO Dynamics, BEV registrations are up 51% year-on-year to 279,000 units or 25.1% share vs. 17.2% a year ago in July 2025. PHEVs are up 16% to 128,800 while HEVs are up 7% to 145,300. Mild hybrids are stable at 252,300. ICE vehicles sink -22% to 302,100 units, falling from 35.9% to 26.9% share year-on-year.

In the OEM ranking, the VW Group (-3%) edges down to just under 292,000 sales, while Stellantis (+2%) is up but trails the market. The Renault Group (-0.7%) is stable ahead of a struggling Hyundai-Kia (-8.5%) nevertheless up one spot on June to #4. The BMW Group (+1.7%) rounds out the Top 5 above the Toyota Group (+2.3%) and Mercedes (+4.7%). Ford Motor (-15.7%) is in deep trouble. In fact, like last month it’s the Chinese that pull the market up: the Geely Group is up 21.3% to stay at #9, BYD Auto is up 150.1% to return inside the Top 10 at #10 ahead of Chery (+201.7%) up to a record #11 and SAIC Motor (+21.9%) at #12.

Looking at the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-4.9%) disappoints as does Skoda (-3.5%) but the latter remains at a record 2nd place, a ranking it also holds year-to-date. Toyota (+2.2%) is back up two spots on June to #3 like YTD, it is followed by BMW (-1.8%) and Mercedes (+2.5%). Renault (+9.3%) is strong year-on-year but down three ranks on last month to #6. Kia (+2.6%) is the only remaining gainer in the Top 10. Below, BYD (+141.5%) surges ahead to equal its highest ranking at #13. Meanwhile Fiat (+29.2%), MG (+13%) and Citroen (+13.7%) impress. Further down, Chery (+4484.4%), Leapmotor (+286.1%), Jaecoo (+214.5%) and Omoda (+107.1%) lead the Chinese charge. All in all, Chinese manufacturers are up 110% year-on-year to 118,851 and 10.7% share vs. 5.3% a year ago in July 2025.

Model-wise, the Dacia Sandero (-1.9%) reclaims the pole position it holds year-to-date. 27% of its July sales come from France, 24% from Italy and 16% from Spain. One of the surprises of the month is the VW Golf climbing 13.6% year-on-year and four spots on last month to #2, a ranking it also holds year-to-date (vs. #5 last year). 51% of its volume comes from home in Germany. The VW T-Roc (-17.7%) is up one rank to #3, followed by the Toyota Yaris Cross (-11.6%) up five spots to #4, its best ranking since hitting #2 last February. Volkswagen also places the Tiguan (-5.9%) at #5, it is followed by the Skoda Octavia (-4%). Very impressive performance from the Mercedes GLC (+45%) up 13 ranks to #7, the nameplate’s very first incursion inside the European Top 10. 39% of its sales come from Germany.

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Previous month: Europe June 2026: Tesla (+50.6%), Chinese (+130.8%) pull market up 12.9%

One year ago: Europe July 2025: Skoda (+30.5%), Dacia (+13.6%) reach record rankings, BEV sales up 33.6%

Full July 2026 Top 15 OEMs, Top 84 All brands and Top 639 All models below.