BYD and Chery led a doubling of Chinese EV deliveries in April, even as Brussels keeps its tariff wall up and Stellantis quietly hands the keys to underused European plants.
Chinese brands accounted for more than 15 per cent of Europe’s electric-vehicle sales in April, the first time the threshold has been crossed in a single month.
Sales of fully electric cars from manufacturers including BYD and Chery more than doubled year-on-year to 38,281 units, according to Dataforce. Across the wider European car market, Chinese brands are closing in on 10 per cent.
Five years ago the figure was a rounding error. In 2021, Chinese carmakers were shifting a few thousand EVs a month in Europe. The pace of the shift since then is what makes April’s number significant rather than the number itself.
The plug-in hybrid story is starker. Chinese brands took close to 30 per cent of European PHEV sales in the most recent monthly cut, a segment they barely existed in two years ago. BYD’s Seal U and Atto 2, along with Chery’s Jaecoo and Omoda lines, have done most of the lifting.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
