Chinese SUVs not yet big sellers in Europe
Things are not going well for the German car industry at the moment. Sales have plummeted – especially on the Chinese market. And although sales of electric cars appear to be slowly stabilizing, they were down last year. Especially in Germany. Here alone, more than a quarter fewer fully electric vehicles were sold in 2024 than in the previous year. Logically, jobs are on the line not only at the manufacturers, but also at many suppliers. And now the Chinese are causing a stir with their low-cost vehicles. At least that’s the picture the media often paints. But is that true? How dangerous are the Asians really becoming to German and other European car brands?
The entire automotive industry is in a state of upheaval and Germany is lagging behind. Or should we say is falling further and further behind? This is because manufacturers will have to increase their electric car shares in 2025 due to significantly reduced CO2 fleet limits in order to avoid high fines. In any case, 2024 went very well for Chinese car manufacturers, as they were able to further increase their market share in China. But what about Germany? Are the Asians really threatening our car industry today?
Automotive market researcher JATO Dynamics has analyzed sales of popular SUVs in the three segments of small cars, mid-size cars and upper mid-size cars (B, C and D). How successful are Chinese brands and models here compared to others? And how many of these models are electric vehicles? We also compared the figures for Germany with other European countries.
MG as a trailblazer
The former British car brand MG Motor, which now belongs to the Chinese SAIC Group, is now well established on the German market. Of all small SUVs registered in Germany in 2024, the MG ZS was the only model to come from China with a good 1,700 petrol models and 1,300 with battery electric drive (BEV). With an average price across all model variants of 20,600 euros, the combustion-powered ZS was by far the cheapest offering among the small SUVs. Despite this, almost 5,700 units of the smaller but more than twice as expensive Smart #1, which is produced by Geely in China, were sold. And almost 7,400 of the technically related Volvo EX 30, although both are electric vehicles. But even the electric MG is still 6,000 euros cheaper than the Smart at an average of 37,000 euros. However, it is more than questionable whether this price will remain the same when the EU’s announced punitive tariffs on subsidized electric cars from China come into force.
In Poland, the UK and the Netherlands, the MG ZS is also the only Chinese SUV model in the B segment. Just under 1,400 units of the petrol model were sold in Poland at an average price of just over 18,500 euros. In our western neighbors, it was only offered as a BEV and found just 239 buyers. The British, on the other hand, still seem very attached to the MG brand, with 15,000 new combustion vehicles and 3,500 ZS electric vehicles on the roads in 2024. The small Chinese SUV also arrives in Spain with around 15,000 registrations, but only a good 300 of these are e-cars.
Remarkable brand diversity in the compact SUV segment
The situation is quite different for SUVs in the C-segment. The compact class is home to bestsellers such as the Dacia Duster, Nissan Qashqai and VW T-Roc. But also electric vehicles such as the VW ID.4 and the Jaguar E-Pace. In addition to more well-known Chinese brands such as BYD, Maxus and Lynk & Co, there are also less illustrious names such as Omoda and Jaecoo. In Germany, however, just under 1,800 registrations were spread across five Chinese models last year at average prices of between 29,000 euros for the MG HS and a good 53,000 for the Maxus Euniq 6; 1,200 of these were petrol models from MG alone.
In the Netherlands, too, compact SUVs from China are still selling in homeopathic doses. Just over 3,000 units from five different brands were sold in 2024. However, these were all electric vehicles – either hybrid models or BEVs. In Poland, a good 2,700 vehicles from four Chinese brands were sold, including more than 2,400 from the MG HS with a petrol engine alone. The Chinese are already further ahead in Spain. Here, 10,500 compact SUVs found their way to customers. In addition to SAIC, other major manufacturers such as Dongfeng and Brilliance are also among the suppliers. The best-selling model was the Omoda 5 from Chery with almost 5,000 units, ahead of the MG HS (2,600) – both as petrol models. Nevertheless, six out of ten models with an average price of less than 30,000 euros come from China.
Electric luxury liners on the rise
E-cars now dominate the upper mid-range segment in Germany, which includes the Mazda CX5, BMW X3 and X4, as well as the Porsche Macan and Mercedes G-Class. Only just under a third of the model variants on offer still have a combustion engine, with the majority running on a partially or fully electric drive. As many as seven different Chinese brands such as Aiways, Nio and Xpeng were on offer in this segment in 2024, all models as BEVs or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). However, together they achieved just 1,223 registrations – fewer than the most expensive model in the segment, the Mercedes G as a mild hybrid (MHEV). Nevertheless, 1,302 units of the luxury off-roader from Stuttgart were sold. At an average price of almost 150,000 euros each.
Of course, the newcomers from the Far East are not yet that expensive. Our cheapest model was the plug-in version of the BYD Seal U for 41,700 euros. A total of 66 of these were sold. The most expensive Chinese model was the all-electric Nio EL6 for an average of 70,000 euros. It still found 53 fans. The best-selling “Made in China” model was the Wey 05 from Great Wall Motors, which probably doesn’t look like a BMW by chance. Wey is considered a luxury brand of GWM. Last year, 615 of the BEV model rolled onto the roads in Germany.
Things are not yet particularly successful in Spain either. Eleven models from nine Chinese brands were sold there in the D segment for average prices of between €25,000 and €66,700 – but just 775 units in total. Strikingly, the five cheapest models in the segment came from China. However, four of them are still powered by combustion engines, while the fifth is a plug-in. In the Netherlands, too, only six models from four brands were on offer last year, of which a total of almost 1,100 units found a buyer. The best-selling model was the all-electric Xpeng G9 for just over 64,000 euros with 566 registrations. In contrast, the Chinese have not yet discovered the upper mid-size SUV market in the UK. Just 58 BYD Seal U models were sold on the island.
Conclusion: Chinese brands are still poorly represented in Germany across all drive types. However, combustion engines are already successful in other European countries. And the prices are often the lowest in the respective segment, mostly in the lower third. “Chinese manufacturers are currently trying to gain market share primarily through price,” says Eric Haase, Managing Director of JATO Dynamics in Germany. The overall market share is still less than five percent. This is certainly not the invasion of the European car market so often cited by the media.
But in China there is now a huge selection in every segment. Not only e-cars, but also combustion engines. And the threatened tariffs do not apply to them. And as the electrification of mobility can no longer be stopped, it is probably only a matter of time before Chinese models become more numerous here too. “At the moment, there is a lack of affordable offers in Europe, which the Chinese are sure to offer soon,” says Haase. The Middle Kingdom has taken a systematic approach to conquering the electromobility market. “Not only can they do it cheaply, they also produce vehicles in shorter cycles than the Europeans and are a few years ahead of them when it comes to battery technology,” concludes Haase.
More information on JATO can be found here.