China’s electric vehicles lose ground in EU after new tariffs take effect
tariffs slowed the influx of Chinese-made electric vehicles in July, as the bloc moved to protect its automakers from low-cost competition.
The number of new EVs that Chinese automakers like BYD Co. and SAIC Motor Corp.’s MG registered in the EU last month fell 45% from June, according to research from Dataforce, which compiled results across the 16 member countries that have reported July figures to date.
The drop may have been exaggerated by carmakers rushing to get EVs to dealers before the added levies took effect July 5.
“We saw a huge push from Chinese manufacturers” to empty stockpiles in June, said Matthias Schmidt, an independent auto analyst based near Hamburg. “That likely caused an inventory burn.”
There’s little in the July figures to suggest Chinese brands have tempered their ambitions to expand in Europe.
From a standing start in 2019, MG, BYD and others have steadily grown — their share of the EU’s electric-car market stood at 8.5% in July, based on the Dataforce figures, up from 7.4% a year earlier. While EVs are still a small part of the European market, they’re set to dominate over time as combustion cars are phased out.
BYD sold three times more EVs in the 16 markets in July than it did a year earlier. MG, part of Chinese state-owned SAIC, posted a 20% drop in July from a year earlier, while Polestar sales declined 42%. “BYD’s increases are really softening the fall” for Chinese brands, said Julian Litzinger, a Dataforce analyst.
China’s top-selling car brand is pressing on with its
