Chinese battery-electric-vehicle makers are refocusing on hybrid and combustion-car sales in Europe under the twin pressures of tariffs and slowing consumer demand for BEVs, resulting in them selling even more product than before.
Recent sales data shows Chinese-brand cars registered across Europe hit record levels the first quarter of 2025, exceeding 150,000 vehicles, with an all-time high in March, according to figures provided by Dataforce, Bloomberg reports.
One key reason for the switch in focus for automakers is the slowdown in consumer demand which shows BEVs record just 15.2% of registrations in the first quarter, their smallest market share in the past five years.
The second big driver for the change to hybrid and internal-combustion-engine products is a reaction to last year’s imposition of additional tariffs, up to 45.3%, by the European Union on BEVs that regulators say have been unfairly subsidized by China’s communist government. Hybrids and ICE products are only liable to pay for the economic bloc’s standard 10% import duty.
BYD, the world’s largest seller of BEVs, is now selling significant numbers of plug-in hybrids in the EU and the U.K., even though in the latter BEVs do not face extra tariffs.
SAIC Motor’s brand, MG, sold almost 47,000 hybrid, plug-in hybrid and ICE -powered cars in EU countries in the first quarter, according to Dataforce. That was more than double its early 2024 tally, while BEV sales fell by half.
However, the move puts extra stress on domestic European automakers led by Volkswagen and Stellantis, who now face greater competition across model lineups. In March, Chinese automakers achieved 5.2% of all European auto sales, passing the 5% mark for the first time.
MG’s sales of ICE and hybrid cars more than doubled in Spain in the first quarter while also rising from minuscule levels to more than 5,500 units in France. In Italy, the revived British nameplate registered a 57% rise in these categories.
Meanwhile, BYD is expanding its dealer network and building factories in Hungary and Turkey to make BEVs that may also be used to construct PHEV models on the same assembly lines.
The automaker, which is also considering a third European plant, is hoping its BEV products will not be subject to EU tariffs, although this is under investigation by Europe’s trade body, the European Commission, as to whether these would be just assembly parts made in China.
