Sales of Chinese brands in Europe continued to grow at a torrid place in April, up by 79 percent to more than 50,000.
In a total market that was flat at 1,085,000 sales, Chinese automakers’ market share grew to 4.6 percent from 2.6 percent in the same period in 2024, preliminary figures from market researcher Dataforce show.
BYD had the biggest volume growth among Chinese automakers, adding almost 10,000 sales compared with April 2024 for a total volume of 12,558. BYD’s growth was boosted by the Seal U midsize SUV that added almost 6,000 units in the month — most of which were the new plug-in hybrid variant.
Chery had the biggest percentage growth, up 1,149 percent with sales of 5,773 in the month. The automaker’s growth was boosted by its Jaecoo and Omoda upscale brands, which were launched in Europe last year. Chery started from a low base of 462 sales in April 2024.
Sign up for the Automotive News Europe By The Numbers monthly newsletter delivering data and commentary on European sales.
Sales at MG Motor, which is owned by SAIC, grew by 25 percent to 21,735, led by the MG 3 small car, which added more than 4,400 sales in April compared with last year, for a total of more than 4,900 for the month.
Despite stronger growth rates from its rivals, MG remained comfortably the top Chinese brand in Europe for the month, as well as for the first four months, with sales of 99,627, ahead of BYD at 41,409 and Chery at 21,571.
Extra tariffs imposed by the EU since November on electric cars imported from China continue to move Chinese OEMs mix away from BEVs.
Overall, in April, sales of Chinese cars rose by 79 percent to 50,173 with:
Sales at Geely Group, which in addition to its namesake brand includes Lotus, Lynk & CO, Polestar and Zeekr — but not Volvo — grew by 31 percent to 4,043, making it the fourth-largest Chinese automaker in Europe.
Xpeng, with sales up 270 percent to 1,665 in April, narrowed the gap to fifth-place DR Motor. Sales at DR, an Italian company that distributes mainly in Italy vehicles built in China by various automakers, fell by 15 percent to 2,096.
