Just Auto

Chinese share of Europe’s new car market nears 6%

Chinese brands’ share is double the level of last year.

According to JATO Dynamics’ data, 65,808 new cars were registered by Chinese automakers in Europe in May, accounting for 5.9% of total car sales across the region. This means that Chinese car brands more than doubled their market share from the 2.9% recorded in the corresponding month in 2024.

“Despite the EU’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, its car brands continue to post strong growth across Europe,” said Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics. “Their momentum is partly due to their decision to push alternative powertrains, such as plug-in hybrids and full hybrids, to the region.”

According to JATO, Volkswagen Group, Renault Group and BMW Group all achieved growth last month with volume increases of 3.3%, 4.6% and 6.3%, respectively. However, Chinese car brands were the main driver of growth in May.

JATO said SAIC-owned brand MG registered 29,400 vehicles in May — a 30% increase year-on-year — surpassing Fiat in year-to-date registrations with 133,400 units compared to Fiat’s 125,300. Meanwhile, BYD saw registrations surge by 397% year-on-year. Despite this sharp growth, it fell just 40 units short of Tesla in May, after having outsold the American brand for the first time in April.

Jaecoo outsells Honda; Omoda outsells Mitsubishi

Accordig to JATO other strong performers in May include Skoda, which occupied second place in the brand rankings, while Dacia saw a significant rise in volumes. Cupra overtook Seat in the year-to-date brand rankings, recording an uplift in registrations of 30%.

Elsewhere, Jaecoo outsold Honda with 7,449 registrations while Omoda recorded 4,213 units, outselling Mitsubishi. Leapmotor registered 1,723 units but was unable to outperform its sister brands from Stellantis like DS. The Chinese carmaker outsold Lancia which posted a year-on-year decrease of 80%. The latter was also outperformed by Ebro – the revived Spanish brand that produces vehicles in partnership with China’s Chery.

Maserati recorded a decline of 40%, while registrations by Lotus and Abarth dipped by 48% and 78%, respectively. INEOS outsold Jaguar, which registered just 86 units.