acf domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/ecg/ecgassociationdev/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121Automotive News Europe — 2026-03-18
Automotive Industry
New-car sales in Europe were up 1.9 percent in February compared with the same month in 2025, according to market analyst Dataforce, with Stellantis gaining 11 percent as CEO Antonio Filosa tries to turn around the troubled automaker.
Electric vehicle sales were up 16 percent for the month, while plug-in hybrids continued their strong growth, up 32 percent. Full hybrids were up 8.4 percent.
For the year, sales are down 1 percent, with the impact of the conflict in the Middle East yet to register. March sales figures, which will start to be released by country trade associations in early April, are expected to reveal the Iran war’s effect on sales, and also perhaps on powertrain mix, with dealers reporting more interest in EVs and hybrids as gasoline and diesel prices rise.
Tesla showed modest signs of a comeback, with sales up 9.9 percent for the month, largely due to the introduction last year of the refreshed Model Y midsize SUV, which was up 22 percent compared with February 2025.
Leapmotor jumps into Chinese automaker mix
Chinese automakers continued their rise, with sales of all brands up 94 percent. Leapmotor, which is partly owned by Stellantis, had the biggest gain among Chinese brands, with sales up 849 percent to 8,511 for the month.
Leapmotor now ranks fourth among Chinese automakers, after SAIC, BYD and Chery.
Stellantis had the largest gain in absolute terms, with 16,425 sales in February, as its low-cost Smart Car vehicles ramped up production. Sales at Fiat were up 51 percent, accounting for about 12,000 of that increase, largely thanks to the launch of the Grande Panda small car on the Smart Car architecture.
Opel and Citroen also had strong gains behind their own Smart Car vehicles, the Opel Frontera and C3 Aircross small SUVs.
VW tracks the market, while Mercedes, BMW, Renault trail
Other groups had mixed results. Volkswagen Group largely tracked the market, with sales up 2.1 percent. Gains at Skoda offset declines at Cupra, the VW brand and Porsche, while Audi sales were flat.
Mercedes-Benz trailed the market, with sales down 0.7 percent; Toyota was down 4 percent; and BMW Group fell 6.1 percent, with losses at both the BMW brand and Mini.
Hyundai-Kia fell by 9.8 percent; both brands lost about the same amount for the month.
Renault Group, which had strong sales in 2025, continued to be weighed down by a slump at Dacia, which lost 22 percent for the month. Brand CEO Katrin Adt attributed the decline, which followed a similar loss in January, to logistics issues caused by weather in the Mediterranean Sea and a changeover in powertrains that hampered production.
Only the launch of the Bigster compact SUV in 2025 prevented an even bigger decline at Dacia, with the Sandero, the brand’s bestseller, down 34 percent. Sales of the Duster SUV declined by 31 percent and the Jogger compact crossover’s volume fell 46 percent.