The car market seems to have been affected by a lot of rain as well as some snow during January. Namely, data from the market research agency Promocija plus show that last month there were 3,946 registrations of new passenger cars, which is 515 vehicles less than at the beginning of 2025. Seen as a percentage, it is a shortfall of 11.55%! Who contributed the most to this – Dacia and Renault with a total shortfall of 272 vehicles, which means that they delivered half as many vehicles. Suzuki had 86 vehicles, a quarter less than in January of last year. Opel also recorded a shortfall of 77 vehicles, or almost 27%. In fact, among the top ten brands, only Toyota has an increase of 13.76% and Audi 9.66%, which made this German premium brand the sixth most sought after last month.
The most wanted brands during January 2026.
| when | order | % | |
| 1 | Škoda | 515 | 13,05% |
| 2 | Volkswagen | 514 | 13,03% |
| 3 | Toyota | 306 | 7,75% |
| 4 | Suzuki | 258 | 6,54% |
| 5 | Opel | 209 | 5,30% |
| 6 | Audi | 193 | 4,89% |
| 7 | Come on | 193 | 4,89% |
| 8 | Hyundai | 189 | 4,79% |
| 9 | BMW | 170 | 4,31% |
| 10 | Dacia | 157 | 3,98% |
| 11 | Ford | 122 | 3,09% |
| 12 | Renault | 118 | 2,99% |
| 13 | Mazda | 98 | 2,48% |
| 14 | Mercedes | 94 | 2,38% |
| 15 | Peugeot | 89 | 2,26% |
| 16 | Volvo | 82 | 2,08% |
| 17 | Citroen | 68 | 1,72% |
| 18 | MG | 66 | 1,67% |
| 19 | BYD | 64 | 1,62% |
| 20 | Cupra | 55 | 1,39% |
| 21 | Omoda | 54 | 1,37% |
| 22 | Nissan | 39 | 0,99% |
| 23 | Geely | 32 | 0,81% |
| 24 | Forthing | 31 | 0,79% |
| 25 | Porsche | 31 | 0,79% |
| 26 | Seat | 31 | 0,79% |
| 27 | Jaecoo | 27 | 0,68% |
| 28 | Mini | 19 | 0,48% |
| 29 | Tesla | 19 | 0,48% |
| 30 | Mitsubishi | 15 | 0,38% |
| 31 | Lexus | 14 | 0,35% |
| 32 | Honda | 12 | 0,30% |
| 33 | Land Rover | 9 | 0,23% |
| 34 | SsangYong | 9 | 0,23% |
| 35 | Subaru | 8 | 0,20% |
| 36 | Alfa Romeo | 7 | 0,18% |
| 37 | DS | 7 | 0,18% |
| 38 | Jeep | 6 | 0,15% |
| 39 | Fiat | 5 | 0,13% |
| 40 | Lynk & Co | 4 | 0,10% |
| 41 | Aston Martin | 2 | 0,05% |
| 42 | Bentley | 2 | 0,05% |
| 43 | Leap motor | 2 | 0,05% |
| 44 | Morgan | 1 | 0,03% |
| in total | 3946 | 100% | |
Judging by the results during January, we can conclude that Chinese brands are saving the situation from getting worse. MG had 66 registrations, an increase of 120%. It is followed by BYD, which had two fewer vehicles, while last year it was not even sold. The third brand is Omoda with 54 registrations, which also did not have a single registration last January. Geely is the only one with a deficit of 14 vehicles, while Forthing had 31 registrations with over 106% growth. There are also 27 registrations of the brand Jaecoo, which had only one registration last year, Lynk&Co had four, while Leapmotor recorded two vehicles. Out of a total of 280 vehicles during January, Chinese brands recorded a plus of as many as 178 vehicles.
The most requested model last month was the Volkswagen T-Cross with 190 registrations, followed by the Škoda Octavia with 163 copies. Two Suzuki models follow. The Vitara is in third place with 132 registrations, while the SX4 model registers twenty fewer. These are the only four models that had a triple-digit score this year. There are 10 brands among the top twenty most sought-after models, with Škoda having as many as four models, Volkswagen three, Suzuki, Opel Dacia, Kia and Toyota two each, and Hyundai, Ford and MG one each.
Looking at the type of drive, hybrids are most in demand with a share of as much as 46%, while last year they were below 40%. After them come the turn of gasoline cars with a share of 37.5%, while a year ago they were at 44.7%. The share of diesel models fell slightly, from 11.4 to 11%, while the share of electric models increased from 1.8 to 3.7%. The remaining 1.4% refers to models that come standard with gas installations.
20 most wanted models during January 2026.
| model | order | % | |
| 1 | Volkswagen T-Cross | 190 | 4,82% |
| 2 | Skoda Octavia | 163 | 4,13% |
| 3 | Suzuki Vitara | 132 | 3,35% |
| 4 | Suzuki SX4 | 112 | 2,84% |
| 5 | Volkswagen Tiguan | 92 | 2,33% |
| 6 | Too bad Kamiq | 90 | 2,28% |
| 7 | Hyundai Tucson | 83 | 2,10% |
| 8 | Skoda Kodiaq | 81 | 2,05% |
| 9 | Opel Corsa | 77 | 1,95% |
| 10 | Kia Stonic | 69 | 1,75% |
| 11 | Shame on the Karoq | 67 | 1,70% |
| 12 | Dacia Duster | 63 | 1,60% |
| 13 | Kia Sportage | 62 | 1,57% |
| 14 | Volkswagen T-Roc | 61 | 1,55% |
| 15 | Ford Kugba | 59 | 1,50% |
| 16 | Dacia Sandero | 57 | 1,44% |
| 17 | Toyota Yaris Cross | 55 | 1,39% |
| 18 | MG ZS | 51 | 1,29% |
| 19 | Opel Frontera | 51 | 1,29% |
| 20 | Toyota Yaris | 51 | 1,29% |
| 21 | the others | 2280 | 57,78% |
| in total | 3946 | 100,00% |
When we talk about electric models, there is no doubt that the increase in their share to 145 units was influenced by the incentives of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund. The most sought after brand in this segment was BYD with 51 registrations. Second place went to Tesla with 19 vehicles, while Ford recorded two less. BMW has nine registrations, while Hyundai and Porsche have less. Audi is on seven vehicles, while Škoda is on six electric models. Renault and Volvo recorded four each, and Mercedes, Cupra and Mini two each. Volkswagen, Toyota, Peugeot, Omoda, DS and Lynk&Co had one vehicle each.
During January, models of 44 different vehicle brands were registered. He would highlight three very poorly represented brands in our areas. We received two copies each that have Aston Martin or Bentley markings on them, and special attention goes to the Morgan brand, one of which received Croatian registration marks.
The lowest demand in Virovitica and its surroundings
Around 1,700 cars are registered in the Zagreb area, which thus has a share of 43.08%, followed by Split-Dalmatia County with 370 and Primorje-Gorski Kotar with 354 vehicles. The Lika-Senj County is at the bottom with 31 cars, of which Virovitica-Podravina was the weakest with 26 cars.
After the record results during 2025, at the beginning of 2026, the government has a slight lull. I believe that this will soon change, and that in eleven months we will once again be reporting on record results in terms of sales of new passenger cars, with a much better representation of electric models and with an even larger share of Chinese brands.