Chinese brands gain ground and double market share across Europe

New Chinese car brands have doubled their market share across Europe year-on-year as registrations also spiked by 111% in May, according to new data.

The figures from Jato Dynamics show that across 28 European markets, Chinese brands registered 65,808 new vehicles in May, increasing their market share to 5.9% from 2.9% the previous year.

The overall market recorded 1.1 million new vehicle registrations in May, up 2.5% on May 2024.

Year-to-date volumes now stand at 5.54 million units, a modest 0.7% increase.

MG remains the strongest performer among Chinese manufacturers, registering 29,400 vehicles last month.

This 30% year-on-year rise saw it overtake Fiat in year-to-date figures, with 133,400 units compared to Fiat’s 125,300.

BYD saw an even sharper rise, up 397% compared to the same month last year.

It came within 40 units of matching Tesla’s May total, having outsold the US brand for the first time in April. Tesla’s own volumes fell by 29% in May, down to 13,600 units.

Jaecoo outperforms Honda, while Omoda surpasses Mitsubishi

Emerging Chinese brands are also making inroads.

Jaecoo registered 7,449 units, outperforming Honda, while Omoda sold 4,213 units, surpassing Mitsubishi.

Leapmotor registered 1,723 vehicles but did not match other Stellantis-owned brands such as DS.

However, it still outperformed Lancia, which recorded an 80% year-on-year decline.

Ebro, a revived Spanish marque backed by China’s Chery, also posted stronger volumes than Lancia.

Jato’s global analyst Felipe Munoz said Chinese growth is being supported by a shift toward hybrid technologies.

“Despite the EU’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, their brands continue to grow in Europe,” he said.

“This is partly due to their strategic focus on plug-in and full hybrids, which continue to resonate with buyers.”

Other brands performing well in May included Skoda, which ranked second in the monthly brand chart.

Dacia recorded a strong uplift in volumes, while Cupra overtook Seat in the year-to-date rankings, driven by a 30% rise in registrations.

Renault Clio most popular model in May

The Renault Clio was the most-registered model in May, growing by 12% year-on-year.

The Dacia Sandero secured second place despite a 10% decline, and continues to lead the year-to-date model rankings.

The Volkswagen Tiguan and Dacia Duster also performed well, though the VW Golf and T-Roc saw drops of 18% and 10% respectively.

Among the top 20 vehicles for May, the MG ZS ranked 15th, with other strong fleet-relevant performers including the BMW X1, Seat/Cupra Leon, Peugeot 3008, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Avenger, MG 3 and Mini Cooper.

In terms of newer entries, the Skoda Elroq led with 9,200 units registered in May and 24,100 year-to-date.

It was followed by the Jaecoo 7 (7,449), the BYD Seal U (7,100), and the Renault Symbioz (6,743).

Other notable performers included the Cupra Terramar (5,445), Audi Q6 (5,007) and Volkswagen Tayron (4,793).

At the lower end of the rankings, brands such as Maserati, Lotus and Abarth saw double-digit declines, while INEOS recorded more registrations than Jaguar, which posted just 86 units.