A line conversion or consolidation isn’t just an engineering decision, it’s a capital allocation decision and if you have either planned for 2026, it’s worth stepping back to understand the bigger picture. With EV, hybrid, and automation trends moving in very different directions in the U.S. and EMEA, the way you handle surplus assets can either leave money on the table or help fund what comes next.
Let’s start with where the market stands, because the U.S. and EMEA are on noticeably different paths.
About 22% of light-duty vehicles sold in 2025 were hybrid, battery electric, or plug-in hybrid, up slightly from 20% in 2024. But here’s the nuance: the growth was driven mostly by conventional hybrids, as EV and PHEV sales actually declined after tax credits expired. Cost-conscious buyers are opting for fuel savings without the charging anxiety or higher sticker price of a full EV. The U.S. is in a hybrid-heavy “bridge” phase.
Battery electric vehicles captured 17.4% of 2025 new car registrations, plug-in hybrids 9.4%, and hybrid electric models a remarkable 34.5%—making hybrids the single largest powertrain category. Meanwhile, the combined share of petrol and diesel fell to just 35.5%. BEV and PHEV penetration is still climbing, and ICE is steadily losing ground under the EU’s 2030s phaseout trajectory.
What this means for dual-region manufacturers: EMEA is structurally shifting away from internal combustion. The U.S. still has meaningful demand for flexible, ICE-capable, and mixed-powertrain assets. That creates a real asymmetry—EMEA will generate more ICE-oriented surplus equipment at the same time the U.S. still needs it. And that’s actually an opportunity if you handle it right.
As EMEA plants retool for higher BEV and hybrid output and phase down ICE-heavy lines, they’ll retire stamping, powertrain, body-in-white, and final assembly equipment that no longer fits their long-term production mix. In the U.S., plants juggling hybrids, ICE, and EVs may still find strong operational value in those very same assets for flexible or mixed-model production.
The real risk? Letting surplus sit idle. Idle ICE-focused or legacy automation equipment ties up capital, takes up floor space, and can lose value fast as technology and regulatory pressures advance. By building surplus disposition into your line conversion timeline—rather than waiting until the dust settles—you can turn stranded assets into budget for EV lines, battery modules, e-axle production, or the next wave of factory automation.
This is where having a global surplus marketplace in your corner becomes a strategic advantage. Liquidity Services supports automotive manufacturers with surplus asset management and sales in over 100 countries and territories, backed by a large, targeted buyer base in key automotive regions. Their platforms and services let you value, catalog, and market surplus from any facility—and expose those assets to buyers worldwide, including U.S. manufacturers actively expanding hybrid and mixed-powertrain capacity.
For an EMEA plant retiring ICE-oriented lines, this means your surplus isn’t limited to local demand or scrap values. Equipment that no longer fits an EU EV-heavy roadmap can still command a strong recovery when matched with U.S. and other regional buyers through a global marketplace. And U.S. plants can use the same platform to redeploy or sell their own surplus as they gradually rebalance from ICE and hybrids toward higher EV volumes.
If you’re responsible for both U.S. and EMEA networks, a coordinated approach can turn this regional divergence into a real financial advantage.
Liquidity Services’ AssetZone software lets you track assets across your entire portfolio, identify underutilized or soon-to-be-retired equipment, and decide whether to redeploy internally or sell through AllSurplus and other channels for maximum recovery. The result: consistent governance, data-driven decisions, and faster execution across plants with very different product and regulatory contexts.
In practice, this means aligning your 2026 conversion roadmap with a surplus roadmap. Use centralized visibility to flag ICE- and manual-intensive assets in EMEA that can be marketed globally, and time U.S. surplus sales to coincide with hybrid-heavy demand rather than waiting for EV-only scenarios that may not match the equipment footprint. You gain capital, floor space, and flexibility in both regions—while advancing your sustainability goals by keeping assets in productive use rather than scrapping them prematurely.
Before you finalize your line conversion plans, these three questions will help clarify your next steps:
If you can answer these clearly, your line conversions won’t just modernize your operations for EVs, hybrids, and automation, they’ll also unlock the capital to fund that transformation on both sides of the Atlantic.