European Car Market | Germany February 2026: BYD Surpasses Tesla

Source: Zhino Auto

In February 2026, new car sales in Germany reached 211,300 units, up 3.8% year-over-year, while the total for the first two months still declined by 1.4% compared to the same period last year.

Structurally, electrification continues to accelerate—pure electric vehicle sales for the month were 46,300 units, a 28.7% increase year-over-year, with penetration rising to 21.9% (from 17.7% last year).

01

Chinese Automakers: Explosive Growth from a Low Base

Chinese brands are still in the “breakthrough stage” in the German market, but their growth is extremely rapid:

◎BYD: 3,053 units, +1550% YoY, ranked 20th

◎MG: 2,160 units, +23.2% YoY, ranked 25th

◎Leap Motor: 1,091 units, +486.6% YoY, ranked 27th

◎Xpeng: 331 units, +104.3% YoY, ranked 34th

Chinese brands are experiencing very high growth but still have a small base, with an overall market share below 5%. Their product mix is mainly pure electric vehicles, directly benefiting from Germany’s electrification push. BYD has already surpassed Tesla in monthly sales (2,276 units).

02

Top 10 Brands

From the brand landscape, the top players remain stable, but internal structural changes are evident.

The top 10 brands are:

◎Volkswagen (40,174 units, 19.0%)

◎Skoda (19,034 units, 9.0%)

◎BMW (17,134 units, 8.1%)

◎Mercedes-Benz (16,931 units, 8.0%)

◎Audi (15,519 units, 7.3%)

◎Opel (11,038 units, 5.2%)

◎SEAT (7,653 units, 3.6%)

◎Ford (7,574 units, 3.6%)

◎Hyundai (7,200 units, 3.4%)

◎Fiat (5,993 units, 2.8%)

Volkswagen Group still dominates, but internal performance varies significantly: Skoda surged 26.5% YoY, becoming the biggest highlight; meanwhile, Volkswagen’s own sales declined 2.1%.

Among the German luxury trio, BMW remained flat, while Mercedes (-9.9%) and Audi (-2.3%) underperformed the market, indicating pressure on high-end demand.

Conversely, value-for-money brands like Opel (+44.4%) and Fiat (+113.2%) are growing rapidly, showing a shift toward more pragmatic consumption.

03

Top 10 Models

In terms of models, traditional internal combustion vehicles still dominate, but new energy vehicles are beginning to enter the core rankings:

◎Volkswagen Golf (6,636 units, 3.1%)

◎Volkswagen T-Roc (4,344 units)

◎Volkswagen Tiguan (4,334 units)

◎Fiat Ducato (3,972 units)

◎Skoda Octavia (3,767 units)

◎Skoda Elroq (3,406 units)

◎BMW X1 (3,150 units)

◎Opel Corsa (3,144 units)

◎Volkswagen Passat (3,106 units)

◎MINI (2,949 units)

The “Volkswagen Group” still dominates the list, occupying more than half of the top ten, with a clear systemic advantage; electric vehicles are truly entering the mainstream competition zone—Skoda Elroq debuted at 6th place and became Germany’s best-selling pure electric model, marking that domestic brands are gradually finding their rhythm in electric offerings.

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