Passenger car registrations rose by 15.3% in Austria in the first four months of 2026, boosted by strong demand for hybrid and electric vehicles, Statistics Austria has reported.
As the data showed, between January and April 2026, 104,744 new passenger cars were registered in Austria, up by 13,872 vehicles compared with the same period last year. Total motor vehicle registrations increased by 16.2% to 141,044.
‘Rising significantly’
“Car registrations have been rising significantly year-on-year for the past 10 months,” commented Manuela Lenk, director general, statistics, at Statistics Austria. “In April 2026, the new car market in Austria grew by 10.7% to 27,509 new car registrations.
“This brings the total number of new cars put on the road since the start of the year to 104,744. This is 15.3% more than in the same period last year. The growth is primarily due to the sharp rise in registrations of petrol hybrids and electric cars.”
Alternative powertrains
Of the 104,744 new passenger cars registered during the first four months of the year, 67,561 used alternative powertrains (such as hybrid or electric), representing 64.5% of the market and recording a 26.9% increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Petrol-electric hybrids recorded the strongest growth, rising by 35.9% to 38,576 registrations, while fully electric vehicles increased by 23.2% to 24,469 registrations. By contrast, diesel-hybrid registrations fell by 9.5% to 4,515 vehicles.
Among conventionally powered vehicles, petrol cars rose slightly (+2.0%) to 26,797 registrations, while diesel cars declined by 8.7% to 10,386.
Volkswagen remained Austria’s leading car brand with a 14.5% market share, followed by Skoda, Audi and BMW. Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD recorded the fastest growth among the top 10 brands, with registrations surging by 69% during the first four months of 2026.
‘New passenger car registrations also rose for Seat and Skoda (both +19.9%), Mercedes (+17.4%), VW (+16.7%) and Audi (+14.5%),’ the statistics body said. ‘In contrast, new registrations for BMW (−8.5%), Toyota (−4.5%), Dacia (−3.1%) and Cupra (−2.3%) declined.’ Read more here.
