BYD and Chery Gain EU Share as September Car Registrations Rise

European Union passenger-car registrations rose 9.3% in September as BYD and Chery gained share, while battery-electric vehicles accounted for 22.7% of new registrations over the first nine months.

The EU registered 971,048 new passenger cars in September, compared with 888,529 a year earlier. The increase extended a run of year-over-year growth to eight consecutive months, beginning in February. Registrations for January through September totaled 8,517,059, up 5.7% from the same period in 2025.

Growth varied month to month during that stretch. Registrations rose 1.4% in February and 12.5% in March, then increased 5.1% in April and 3.2% in May. June posted a 13.6% gain, followed by increases of 3% in July and 4.5% in August before September's 9.3% rise.

BYD registered 28,309 cars in the EU in September, 111.4% more than the 13,391 registered a year earlier. Its share of the market reached 2.9%, up from 1.5%. Chery Automobile registered 20,707 cars, a 223.8% increase from 6,396, and its share rose to 2.1% from 0.7%.

For the first nine months of 2026, BYD recorded 206,002 registrations, up 154.4% year over year. Chery Automobile reached 137,003, an increase of 246.5%. Their market shares for the period were 2.4% and 1.6%, respectively, compared with 1% for BYD and 0.5% for Chery in the same period last year.

Chery Automobile's total combines the Chery, Jaecoo, Jetour and Omoda brands. The companies' registration figures include passenger cars with all types of powertrains, rather than electric vehicles alone.

Battery-electric registrations rose 72.9% year over year to 290,117 in September. For January through September, they climbed 48.5% to 1,931,465. Battery-electric cars represented 22.7% of new registrations over those nine months, compared with 16.1% a year earlier. The 2026 registration figures are provisional and may be revised.