Global sales of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose 8% year on year to 2.09 million in October 2026, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence figures reported by Electrek. That was 3% fewer than in September, and it takes the year to date to 17.5 million, up 5%. Europe again carried the growth: 510,000 sales, up 36%, with battery-electric cars up 49% and plug-in hybrids up only 7%. Benchmark counts passenger cars and light-duty vehicles.
The October scorecard
| Region | October 2026 | Year on year | 2026 to date | Year on year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 1.14M | −12% | 9.1M | −11% |
| Europe | 0.51M | +36% | 4.5M | +31% |
| North America | 0.13M | +24% | 1.3M | −21% |
| Rest of world | 0.30M | +85% | 2.6M | +93% |
| Global | 2.09M | +8% | 17.5M | +5% |
Europe's total was 17% below September's record, which the UK's twice-yearly number-plate change had boosted, but its year-on-year growth ran ahead of the 31% pace for the year so far. Benchmark singles out Germany, where electric cars took more than 45% of the market for the first time since December 2022 and battery-electric sales rose almost 80%; the UK, up 30% against a month that already had the Electric Car Grant; and Portugal, where plug-in cars took 55% of the market. Reuters, which reported the same data, credits subsidies, rising fuel prices, EU emissions rules and a growing number of models.
North America's first annual rise of 2026 is a base effect: October 2025 was the first month after the US federal tax credit ended. US sales of about 110,000 have "stabilised at a lower level rather than recovered", Charles Lester, Benchmark's data manager, told Fleet News.
China fell 12%, less than September's 18%, and its carmakers exported almost 600,000 new-energy passenger cars, a monthly record. Benchmark names two headwinds for those exports in 2027: the EU's planned cap on hybrid imports, which Brussels is pursuing through a safeguard investigation, and the cut in China's export VAT rebate from 13% to 9% on 1 April 2027.
Where Tesla sits this month
Benchmark does not publish brand figures. The national data TeslAnt has reported for October shows Tesla growing in most of Europe's large markets:
| Market | Tesla, October 2026 | Change on October 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2,932 | +291% |
| France (Model Y and Model 3) | 2,410 | +36% |
| Norway | 1,548 | +131% |
| Spain | 1,459 | +271% |
| Italy | 497 | +94% |
| Belgium | 488 | +15% |
| Sweden | 463 | +248% |
| Portugal | 412 | +186% |
| Netherlands | about 340 | about −47% |
| United Kingdom | 282 | −45% |
| Denmark | 137 | +34% |
Most of those percentages start from a weak October 2025: 133 cars in Sweden, 144 in Portugal, about 750 in Germany. Germany also shows the limit of the recovery: BYD registered 5,173 cars there in October and moved 219 ahead of Tesla for the year. The two declines were the UK, where October opens Tesla's delivery quarter, and the Netherlands, where Tesla's registrations roughly halved while the electric share reached a record 55.2%.
China is where Tesla follows Benchmark's industry pattern most closely. Its Shanghai factory sold only 8,817 cars in China in October, the fewest since July 2022, while exports took a record 87% of its wholesale volume, the CPCA's split shows.
A Europe-wide Tesla total for October is not out yet. In September, Dataforce's preliminary figures had Tesla up 71% across Europe.