Chinese automakers defy EU tariffs, capture close to 13% of Europe's EV market

Chinese car manufacturers hit a record in November. They grabbed 12.8% of Europe’s electric vehicle market despite facing new tariffs from the European Union.

Dataforce numbers seen by Bloomberg show Chinese brands also passed 13% in hybrid vehicle sales across the EU, EFTA countries, and the UK. BYD and SAIC Motor are leading. Newer players like Chery Automobile and Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology are pushing in too.

The reason? Too much manufacturing capacity back in China. Carmakers there are stuck in brutal price wars at home. They need somewhere else to sell.

BYD goes all-in on Europe

BYD is setting up local factories in Europe. Adding plug-in hybrids and premium brands. Competition at home is getting rough with rivals like Geely and Xiaomi gaining ground fast.

The Shenzhen company already did the heavy lifting. Built its brand. Got dealer networks running. Put charging stations across Europe. They want everything ready before the next wave of Chinese competitors arrives.

Stella Li is BYD’s executive vice president. She told reporters in Zhengzhou that machinery for their first European factory in Hungary should be installed by year’s end. Test runs start in the first quarter of 2026. Full production begins in the second quarter.

Hungary’s not their only project. BYD’s building new plants in Brazil and Turkey. They already have one running in Thailand that started shipping cars to Europe in August. Li admits making cars in Hungary will cost more at first than in China. But she says it’s necessary for building a brand people trust. Costs will drop eventually. It’ll also help them handle whatever happens with tariffs.

Another European factory might come later. Li said they’re looking at sites. Spain’s on the list as previously reported Cryptopolitan.

“We’ll ramp up our Hungary plant first, then the Brazil facility, and the Turkey one,” she said. “Then we’ll see what’s next, but we don’t have a clear plan yet.”

CEO Wang Chuanfu recently sent research and development managers to Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. They need to adapt vehicle designs for what people want in each place.

BYD’s already doing well in major European markets. October numbers tell the story. They registered over four times as many vehicles as Tesla in Germany. Almost seven times more in the UK. That’s from government and trade authority data.

Chinese carmakers mostly absorbed the extra fees from EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs that started late 2024. They also pushed into areas the tariffs don’t touch. Hybrid models. Non-EU markets like the UK.

Explosive growth for newer brands

Leapmotor’s European EV sales jumped more than 4,000% through October. That’s from Jato Dynamics data. A partnership with Stellantis helped fuel that growth. Stellantis owns Peugeot, Fiat, and Opel. Chery’s Omoda brand saw a 1,100% jump in EV sales during the same period.

European automakers are scrambling to keep up. They’re also lobbying officials to ease rules that phase out regular gas and diesel cars.

EU officials floated dropping plans to ban new combustion engine vehicle sales by 2035. It’s the latest move to protect one of the continent’s biggest industries from a messy energy transition.

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