January 2026 Mobility & Consumption Minute: 255 million cars in Europe, a 16% savings rate in the euro area

Two structural indicators open the year in January 2026:

255 million cars are in daily use on European roads, in an ageing fleet averaging twelve and a half years
Running establishes itself as a mass phenomenon and a genuine market

Mobility Minute: 255 million cars on European roads every day

According to an ACEA study, 255 million cars are in daily use on European roads. The fleet is dominated by Germany, with around 50 million vehicles, ahead of Italy (41.3 million) and France (around 40 million).

Above all, that fleet is old: twelve and a half years on average, and more than seventeen years in Greece.

Key takeaways

– 255 million cars in use across Europe
– a fleet averaging twelve and a half years, more than seventeen in Greece
– Germany leads (around 50 million), ahead of Italy (41.3 million) and France (around 40 million)
– 12,000 kilometres driven per vehicle per year, or 1,000 km a month
– a fleet still mainly petrol (50%) and diesel (38%), with electric at just 2.3%

To understand why electric accounts for only 2.3% of the fleet on the road when it already represents 17.4% of sales, and what the age of the fleet reveals about car purchasing power:

👉 Read the full analysis on the Observatoire Cetelem

Discover the latest Auto 2026 study by the Cetelem Observatory

With this new 2026 edition, if we observe a worrying situation, we identify five levers that could create a healthy rebound in the automotive sector. An obligation, as the economic and social stakes are so high

Consumption Minute: Europeans are saving 16% of their income

The average savings rate in the euro area stands at 16% a year, against 12% before the health crisis a four-point gap that has never closed.

Germany saves more still, at 20%, while France sits at around 18%.

Key takeaways

– an average savings rate of 16% in the euro area, against 12% before the health crisis
– 20% in Germany, around 18% in France
– four points more than before 2020
– household consumption remains the number one engine of euro area economies
– demographic ageing structurally feeds saving

To understand why saving has settled at this level, and what households might do with it in 2026:

👉 Read the full analysis on the Observatoire Cetelem

Find the new 2026 Consumer Study from the Cetelem Observatory

As early as 2016, we were interested in seniors with a study entitled “Towards the golden age of the silver economy?”. At the time, we were far from suspecting that the decline in the birth rate would accelerate to such an extent and that the question of demographic ageing would be so acute 10 years later.

Find out about the latest Consumption study.

Two indicators, one shared household caution

An ageing car fleet and a savings rate that stays high tell the same story.

Keeping a car for twelve and a half years means postponing a purchase. Saving 16% of income means building a reserve rather than spending. In both cases, European households are deferring their decisions rather than abandoning them.