Chinese Car Brand Moves Fast To Control European Automotive Market: Sales Skyrocket In The First Half Of The Year

JAKARTA What some European manufacturers were worried about when many Chinese manufacturers entered the European automotive market became a reality. China's car brand dominance in the European market continues to expand, setting a new record for sales in the first half of 2025.

Sales of Chinese manufacturers, reported CnEVPost, Wednesday, July 23, skyrocketed 91 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching a market share of 5.1 percent. This figure is almost double the 2.7 percent recorded in the first half of 2024, marking significant changes in the European automotive landscape.

According to a recent report from market research firm Jato Dynamics released today, five main brands 'BYD, Jaecool, Omoda, Leapmotor, and Xpeng are the main drivers of this rapid growth. Overall, Chinese brands have sold 347,135 vehicles in Europe in the first half of 2025.

This achievement puts the Chinese brand on par with big players in the European market. Their 5.1 percent market share is now slightly below Mercedes-Benz (5.2 percent) but has surpassed Ford (3.8 percent). In fact, in June alone, Chinese car brands managed to outperform total Mercedes-Benz sales, indicating their outstanding expansion speed.

BYD Leads The Road With An Aggressive Strategy

BYD, known for its aggressive pricing strategy, pointed to its most striking growth. The company recorded sales of 70,500 units in the first half of 2025, surging 311 percent on an annual basis. In June alone, BYD managed to register 15,565 vehicles, placing them among 25 best-selling brands and even surpassing Suzuki, Mini, and Jeep. The BYD Seal U model even matched Volkswagen Tiguan as Europe's best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in June and was ranked third in the first half of this year.

Other brands such as Jaecool and Omoda (sub-brand Chery) also recorded significant growth. Although their growth was not driven by an electric model, their plug-in hybrid SUV accounted for 29 percent of Europe's total monthly registration in June, while traditional internal combustion engine models accounted for 63 percent.

Leapmotor registered more than 8,300 new vehicles in Europe in June, driven by strong demand for their city T03 sedans and C10 SUVs. Meanwhile, Xpeng emerged as the most successful Chinese premium car brand in Europe until the first half of 2025, with 8,338 registrations. Xpeng's growth is dominated by high demand for the G6 model, which accounts for 5,615 registrations.

On the other hand, several big players experienced a significant decline. Stellantis recorded the largest decline in sales in Europe in the first half of this year, with the market share dropping from 16.7 percent to 15.3 percent. Tesla also experienced a decline in its second-largest market share, dropping from 2.4 percent in the first half of 2024 to 1.6 percent. During this period, Tesla was even replaced by SAIC in sales ranking, where SALIC sales increased 22 percent to 162,153 units, while Tesla's sales fell 33 percent to 109,264 units in the first half of this year.