Autonews — 2025-05-08
Automotive Industry
Chinese electric vehicles are losing momentum in Europe, but the nation’s automakers are selling more cars than ever in the region by increasing deliveries of plug-in hybrids and combustion-engine models.
The number of Chinese-brand cars registered across Europe hit record levels in the first three months of the year, exceeding 150,000 vehicles, according to figures provided by Dataforce, which tracks auto sales. The monthly total hit an all-time high in March.
EVs were just 30 percent of registrations in the first quarter, the smallest portion since at least the start of 2020.
Until recently, Chinese automakers had prioritized selling EVs in Europe, spurred by the region’s ambitious targets to lower carbon emissions and the desire to lead in the emerging segment within a global industry. That changed when the European Union imposed higher tariffs on Chinese-made EVs last year, after determining that generous subsidies from Beijing had created an unfair advantage for its battery-powered car industry.
With multiyear gains in EV sales at a plateau, Chinese automakers have turned to more conventional drivetrains to pick up the slack.
For the first time, EV powerhouse BYD is selling significant numbers of plug-in hybrids in the EU and the U.K.
SAIC’s MG sold almost 47,000 hybrid, plug-in hybrid and combustion engine-powered cars in EU countries in the first quarter, according to Dataforce. That was more than double its early 2024 tally, while EV sales fell by half.
One reason for the shift to fossil fuel-burning models has been the added EV levies, which raised import duties to as high as 45 percent in the case of state-owned SAIC.
China’s automakers adapt to a slowing European demand for EVs
But European customers also have turned away from pure EVs in favor of hybrids more broadly, and Chinese automakers are adjusting along with their European counterparts, said Benjamin Kibies, a senior automotive analyst at Dataforce.
“The Chinese have accelerated and intensified their efforts to introduce other fuel types,” Kibies said. “Tariffs are part of the puzzle, but also a slower EV uptake” and rising demand for hybrids, he added.
The trend has been underway since the second half of last year, when the EU started setting the higher duties. The added tariffs apply to all EVs made in China and are intended to level the playing field for European automakers and their suppliers.
While the moves thwarted Chinese brands from seizing more of the EV market, they also risk undermining the bloc’s environmental goals. Concerns that the surcharges would slow adoption of EVs by making Chinese imports more expensive largely have come to pass, even if the duties are only part of the equation.
Automakers led by Volkswagen Group and Stellantis now face intensified competition across their model lineups. In March, Chinese automakers reached 5.2 percent of all European auto sales, passing the 5 percent mark for the first time.
MG’s sales of combustion engine and hybrid cars more than doubled in Spain in the first quarter and rose from minuscule levels to more than 5,500 units in France. In Italy, the British brand that has been Chinese-owned since the mid-2000s registered a 57 percent rise in these categories.
BYD too is seeing more demand for its hybrid models in Europe this year, regional chief Maria Grazia Davino said at an industry event last month in Stuttgart, Germany.
“In the near future we’ll have two pillars,” she said. “One is electric.”
BYD is expanding its dealer network, building factories in Hungary and Turkey to make EVs that will not be subject to tariffs, and is considering a third plant in Europe. Still, the company has surprised some by introducing higher-end models and refraining from using its cost advantages to undercut competitors.
“We have no interest in destroying ourselves and the industry by initiating the pricing spiral that goes, goes down,” Davino said.