Switzerland: One in three cars was electric in September

Rapid increase: 7,833 electric vehicles were newly registered in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in September. This represents a 51 percent increase compared to the previous month, accounting for 35.7 percent of all new car registrations that month. It marks another significant jump from August.

According to the latest figures from the importers’ association auto-schweiz, new electric vehicle registrations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein continued to rise in September, increasing by 51.2 percent from 5,182 to 7,833 electric vehicles. This September figure represents a share of 35.7 percent for BEVs among all new passenger car registrations that month. It marks a new record, following August last month which was declared the record-breaking month with a 30.2 percent market penetration for electric vehicles. The further increase of 5.5 percentage points highlights how dynamically BEVs are developing in Switzerland and Liechtenstein at present.

For comparison: In the first half of the year, the average penetration rate of BEVs was still 23.9 percent. By July it had risen to 25.8 percent. Thus, the share of the car market occupied by BEVs grew sharply in August and September. According to Thomas Rücker, director of auto-schweiz, this is directly linked to high fuel prices: “The continuing increase in the registration numbers of plug-in vehicles in September is encouraging. At the same time, it highlights the heavy financial burden on commuters and the logistics industry. The population and businesses must not be left behind. Costs related to mobility need to drop significantly. Moreover, not everything that shines is gold: the progress of electric mobility is still about a quarter behind the projections of the Roadmap 2025. The conditions for electric mobility must be improved rapidly.”

The overall market in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is growing: by 9.6 percent, from 20,029 passenger cars in September 2025 to 21,948 units now. Since the start of the year, 173,537 new registrations have been recorded, 2.7 percent more than in the first nine months of the previous year. As a result, the Swiss market lags behind many European passenger car markets, which showed stronger growth in 2026.

Let’s look at the mix of powertrains: Electric cars, which accounted for 35.7% of the market share in September, constitute the strongest group, followed by full and mild hybrids, which made up 31.9% of the market with 7,007 cars sold. Their sales remained almost unchanged compared to the previous month (+3.2% YoY). The share of pure gasoline cars declined significantly from 22% to 17% of the market share. In absolute terms, there were 3,673 such cars sold in September (-15.9% YoY). Next are plug-in hybrids (which the statistics also include range-extender electric vehicles), accounting for 11.5% of the market share with 2,529 units sold. However, they were more popular a year earlier, resulting in a 1.5% decline. The last notable type of powertrain in September was diesel cars, which still held a 4.1% market share. Their registration numbers were 905 units (-19.3% YoY).

That is, by August it will already be only in three digits.

From January to September, 45,464 new electric cars were registered in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, 27.3 percent more than during the same period in 2025. The share of BEVs in the first nine months of 2026 rose from 21.1 percent to 26.2 percent. Analysts at auto-schweiz also note that plug-in vehicles (i.e., BEVs, PHEVs, and EREVs) now account for 38.5 percent of the market share due to strong performance in August and September, thus overtaking non-plug-in hybrids (36.1 percent) for the second consecutive month. In contrast, cars with purely gasoline and diesel engines lost ground, accounting for only 20.1 percent and 5.3 percent of new registrations respectively since the start of the year.