Western Europe’s car market nudges up in February

Core Insights - The overall sales in Western Europe showed a 1.4% YoY growth to 865k units, but France's significant contraction negatively impacted regional growth [1] - The forecast for Western European PV sales in 2026 is cautious, expecting sales to remain broadly flat due to inflationary pressures from recent developments in Iran [1] Group 1: Market Performance - Italy experienced the strongest growth among the five largest Western European markets, attributed to MASE incentives and easing inflation [2] - France's market saw a nearly 15% YoY decline, continuing a slowdown that has affected the French PV market since mid-2024 [2] - The UK PV market accelerated over 7% YoY to 90k units, marking February's best result in 22 years, driven by strong private buyer uptake and hybrid vehicle demand [6] - The Spanish PV market sold 97k units, up 7.5% YoY, with robust EV sales contributing significantly to its strong performance [7] Group 2: Sales Data and Trends - Year-to-date (YTD) sales in France for the first two months of 2026 stand at 228k units, down 11% from the same period in 2025 [5] - The monthly selling rate in France improved by 1.7% MoM to 1.53 million units, but remains low for a key European market [5] - The UK YTD sales reached 234k units, up 4.8% from the same period in 2025 [6] - In Spain, YTD sales for the first two months of 2026 are at 170k units, up 4.6% from the same period in 2025 [7] Group 3: Future Outlook - The forecast for 2026 indicates a slight growth of 0.2% in the PV market, following a 1.8% growth in 2025 and a flat outlook for 2024 [4]