Edited by Peter Hillerberg2 min readStories are generated from ORTEX data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. How we publish
UK new car registrations reached 538,867 in Q2 2026. That is the largest second-quarter total in six years, according to the UK vehicle registration dataset tracked by ORTEX. It beats the previous Q2 record of 489,121 set in 2021 by a wide margin. The reading arrives as vehicle data across several markets tells a more complicated story.
Canadian passenger-car sales hit 24,450 in August 2026, the largest August figure in three years, edging past the 23,947 recorded in August 2023, per Canadian vehicle sales data ingested by ORTEX. Yet Canadian new truck sales fell for a third consecutive month in the same month, with 150,161 vehicles sold. The split between car and truck demand in Canada is one of the cleaner signals in the dataset right now.
New Zealand added context from a different angle. Retail electricity connections hit 2,374,769 in September 2026, the highest reading since the series began in 2011, according to New Zealand electricity connection data tracked by ORTEX. Rising connections typically reflect new housing stock coming online. Meanwhile, US international passenger enplanements and international seats flown both rose for three consecutive months through July 2026, per US airport state-level filings tracked by ORTEX.
Several large automakers report within the next week, and the European vehicle registration data ORTEX tracks has a measured, out-of-sample record of leading their revenues.
German car registration data, which has a strong measured fit leading GM revenue by 15 days, is running at plus 133% versus the same quarter last year, with all three months of the quarter in. The same dataset leads TSLA revenue by 43 days with a strong fit, and is running at plus 269% year on year, again with three months complete. Both companies report this week on 20 and 21 October respectively.
Austrian car registrations, a moderate-fit lead for RNO revenue by 32 days, are running plus 6% year on year. Dutch car data for the same company is running minus 19%. Renault reports 22 October.
Finnish car registrations lead VOLCAR B revenue by 22 days with a moderate fit and are running minus 9% year on year. India registrations, which lead MARUTI revenue by 58 days with a weak fit, are running plus 31%. Both report 23 October. Japanese car data, a strong-fit lead for 500570 revenue, is running plus 16% on the year. Dutch car data for the same company is running minus 48%. All readings cover three full months of the quarter. These are where the data points so far, not a forecast of any reported figure.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
