Export China's Automakers Double Sales in Europe

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The EU imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars. However, the manufacturers are responding cleverly: they are focusing on hybrids, expanding dealership networks, and significantly undercutting European competitors.

Chinese automakers have doubled their market share in Europe within a year. Figures for September 2025 document rapid growth for cars from China, according to a newly released report by Dataforce. Brands like BYD, Saic, and Chery are becoming more popular in Europe, and some of them have, for the first time, surpassed Korean automakers like Kia.

The doubling of sales occurred in the period from September 2024 to September 2025 and includes all types of drive systems. In this statistic, "Europe" refers to the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (EU + EFTA + UK).

Overall Market Share Still in Single Digits

Both the market shares and the absolute sales figures of Chinese car brands in the market as defined are still low. However, they show that the very early protective tariffs imposed by the European Commission in Brussels on imports of Chinese electric cars cannot prevent the export success of the Chinese.

In September of this year, Chinese manufacturers were able to sell around 90,000 cars in Europe. Given that over 1.2 million units were sold in total, this corresponds to a market share of around seven percent, according to Dataforce. A year earlier, in September 2024, this share stood at around three percent.

Sales of Chinese Hybrids Quintupled

Particularly impressive was the increase in cars with hybrid drives of all types. In September, the market share of Chinese manufacturers in this segment grew to 15 percent. A year earlier, it was just under three percent—meaning it has more than quintupled within a year.

Partly to circumvent the EU tariffs on all-electric vehicles and partly because they correctly identified market demand in Europe, Chinese manufacturers have significantly expanded the share of plug-in hybrids in their product portfolios for Europe.

After A Difficult Start: BYD Catches Up

The biggest winner in the mentioned period is BYD. Since October 2024, the EU has been trying to shield the EU market from the success of the Shenzhen-based company with an additional 17 percent tariff on pure electric vehicles (BEVs) from BYD. In addition to the previously introduced ten percent tariff on all car sales from China, BYD now has to pay a total of 27 percent tariff when importing electric cars into the EU.

BYD then adjusted its strategy by shipping its affordable yet impressively equipped plug-in hybrid "Seal U DM-i" to Europe. It promoted this SUV with attractive introductory offers, leveraging the rapidly growing network of its dealers.

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This car model from BYD features a small petrol engine that helps to ease the range anxiety of European customers, but its electric drive alone achieves mileage that is fully sufficient for the everyday needs of many customers. European automakers have little to compete with it in terms of price and features.

$17,400 Cheaper than A Tiguan

A Seal U DM-i can be found in Europe starting at around $40,600. Those looking for something comparable will come across the VW Tiguan eHybrid, which charges slightly faster and has a somewhat higher range but is only available starting at $58,000, even though VW does not have to pay any tariffs for it. The Tiguan still sells better than the Seal U DM-i.

How long this will remain the case is an interesting question. "Since the EU imposed additional tariffs on battery-electric vehicles imported from China in November 2024, Chinese automakers have been adjusting their product mix, reducing BEV deliveries, and expanding the range of plug-in hybrids," reports the Chinese auto portal Gasgoo.

Overall, BYD was able to increase its car sales across all drivetrains by around 300 percent during the specified period. In the first nine months of this year, the Chinese manufacturer sold 120,000 cars in Europe. Although this figure was still less than MG, the formerly British car brand now owned by China, which sold 225,000 units, MG grew by about 29 percent over the same period.

Sales Network is Rapidly Expanding

What happens when BYD seriously focuses on a market and expands its dealership network can currently be observed in the United Kingdom. In less than two and a half years, the Chinese company has established a network of 100 franchise dealers there.

They offer dealers attractive packages, and many customers are impressed by the product, British media report. A "wow effect" ("shock and awe") is currently being observed in the dealerships, Bloomberg quotes an analyst from Bernstein.

BYD Surpasses Kia

The brands BYD, Chery, and MG (owned by Saic) claim the majority of the market share, a good seven percent, captured by Chinese manufacturers. In individual rankings, BYD was able to surpass the Korean brand Kia for the first time.

Some analysts tried hard to find a flaw and suggested that part of the statistical gains might come from fleet sales and dealer-registered demo vehicles. That may be true. On the other hand, for example, the sales figures of Volvo (owned by Geely) are not included in the Dataforce numbers.

All in all, the trend is clear: Despite EU tariffs, which amount to up to 45 percent for some manufacturers, BYD and other Chinese brands are steadily capturing more of the European car market. For plug-in hybrids, the total share was already around 20 percent in September. And they are just getting started.

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