Report – Vehicles on European roads 2026

Top Insights 

• There were 256 million cars on EU roads in 2024, a 1.4% increase from the previous year. Italy has the highest number of cars per 1,000 inhabitants, while Latvia has the lowest.  

• Electrically-chargeable cars continue to grow, up from 3% to 3.7% in 2024.

• There are roughly 31.1 million vans on EU roads, a 1.9% increase, with 1.3% being electrically chargeable.  

• 6.2 million trucks are now on EU roads, a 0.9% increase, with 0.3% being electrically chargeable. On average, trucks remain the oldest of all vehicle types at 14 years.

• There are now about 700,000 buses on EU roads, an increase of 1.8%, with 3.5% being electrically chargeable. Battery-electric models comprise over 10% of buses in four EU countries (Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden).

The report demonstrates that legislative targets represent just one piece of the complex puzzle of road transport decarbonisation. Europe requires a pragmatic and achievable pathway for the automotive industry. The ecosystem must become more attractive to customers, and the current regulatory framework should be revised to foster a broader set of enabling conditions, such as charging infrastructure and purchase and tax incentives, to stimulate demand for new models and replenish vehicles on Europe’s roads with the cleanest and greenest models.

ACEA’s “Vehicles on European Roads” report provides key data, including average vehicle age, vehicle power types, vehicle ownership patterns, and more essential information for understanding the automotive sector landscape.