Chinese car brands continue their advance and grow in Europe
In June, Asian brands recorded a record market share of over 5 per cent in the first half of the year based on statistics from Jato Dynamics. While sales of electric cars exceeded one million units for the first time.
5' min read
Key points
- Five Chinese houses driving growth
- The other Chinese brands all booming
- European players lost market share
- Tesla overtaken in sales by Chinese Saic Motor
- Electricity sales exceed one million units
- Electrics are on the upswing
- Renault group dominates the ranking by models
- Best-performing models in the semester
5' min read
Chinese brands further increased both new car sales and market share in Europe in June and the half-year period. Compounding the decline in the European new-car sales market, Asian brands have been increasingly gaining ground at the expense of European, Japanese, Korean and American manufacturers, according to statistics from the British Institute Jato Dynamics. So much so that the share of Chinese brands in the half-year almost doubled over 2024, reaching a new record of 5.1%. Their volumes increased by 91% in the six-month period, placing them just below Mercedes with a 5.2% share, but ahead of Ford with 3.8%. The Chinese in June, however, also surpassed Mercedes in terms of cars sold.
Five Chinese houses driving growth
.These are Byd, Jaecoo, Omoda, Leapmotor and Xpeng. Byd, which has adopted a very aggressive pricing strategy, registered a total of 70,500 units in the first half of the year, an increase of 311% year-on-year. In June alone, Byd registered 15,565 units, joining the top 25 best-selling brands and surpassing Suzuki, Mini and Jeep respectively. Furthermore, the Byd Seal U was, together with the Volkswagen Tiguan, the best-selling car with a plug-in hybrid powertrain in June in Europe and the third best-selling car in the six-month period.
The other Chinese brands all experiencing strong growth
.Jaecoo and Omoda, brands both part of the Chery group, made substantial progress, although this was not due to their range of electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrid SUVs accounted for 29 per cent of monthly registrations in June, while conventional internal combustion engine models accounted for almost two-thirds, or 63 per cent. The Jaecoo 7 was the ninth best-selling plug-in hybrid in Europe in June. Leapmotor, the Chinese brand of the Stellantis Group, registered over 8,300 units in June, driven largely by the popularity of the T03 city car and the C10 SUV. Meanwhile, Xpeng was the most successful high-end Chinese brand in Europe in 2025, with 8,338 units registered in the first half of the year. The growth was driven by strong demand for the G6 suv, which totalled 5,615 registrations.
European players lost market share
.While the Chinese brands continue their growth, some of the automotive players ceded market share. Stellantis recorded the biggest drop in the first six months of the year, with its share dropping from 16.7% to 15.3% year-on-year. In fact, the group recorded the lowest first-half registration volume in Europe since its establishment in 2021. Of the ten Stellantis brands, only three recorded growth in the half-year period. These were, in order of growth, Alfa Romeo (+33%), Peugeot (+6%) and Jeep (+2%). Overall, Stellantis saw its volumes fall by 8.6% and 11.7% in H1 2025 and June respectively, with Fiat, Lancia, DS, Maserati and Abarth recording heavy losses. Citroën and Opel also saw double-digit declines in registrations. Stellantis' problems, according to Jato Dynamic, are the result of two different factors: on the one hand, the inability of many of its brands to introduce more attractive new models to the market, and on the other hand, an excessive focus on sales of electric vehicles, which are more expensive than internal combustion engine models in new car offerings.
Tesla outsold by Chinese Saic Motor
Tesla recorded the second most significant drop in its market share in the first half of 2025, from 2.4 per cent in the first half of last year to 1.6 per cent in 2025. During this period, Tesla also lost its position in the group rankings to Saic Motor, owner of MG, which overtook the US brand for the first time. In fact, MG the Chinese-owned British brand increased its volumes by 22% to a total of 162,153 units, compared to a 33% drop by Tesla, which posted a total of 109,264 registered units.
