Chinese EV sales surge to new high in Europe putting tariffs under scrutiny

Chinese electric car sales have risen across Europe to a record high driven by strong demand and low tariffs in the UK and a surge in buyers in Italy.Against a backdrop of claims that Chinese carmakers are “dumping” state-subsidised vehicles in the EU and UK to gain market share, the figures will give impetus to calls for quotas and higher tariffs to protect European manufacturers.The share of electric cars sold by Chinese brands rose to 14.2% across western European markets – or one in every seven battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – in the first five months of this year, according to Schmidt Automotive Research. The 171,800 sales represented an increase in market share of nearly five percentage points versus the same period in 2025.Brands including BYD, Chery, SAIC and Xpeng have targeted Europe for exports, as the Chinese industry seeks to dominate the global electric vehicle market. This has put traditional European manufacturers under intense pressure when tougher emissions rules are forcing them to increase their own BEV sales.The increase in European sales comes despite EU tariffs of up to 35.3% for electric cars made by some Chinese manufacturers, on top of the standard 10% import duty.The UK is the largest European market for Chinese cars because the government has declined to follow the EU’s lead in imposing extra levies. The UK accounted for a quarter of Chinese BEV sales across the 18 biggest Western European markets.Although Italy accounted for a fifth of the total, Schmidt said this was an “anomaly”. One manufacturer, Leapmotor, sent thousands of its cheap T03 electric cars into the country to take advantage of purchase subsidies from the government. The subsidies meant that the T03 was as cheap as €5,000 at one point – far below even the most keenly priced models sold by rivals.Chinese manufacturers have sold more than 120 different models in Europe this year – compared with about 100 from European brands.However, Matthias Schmidt, the founder of Schmidt research, said China’s share of the BEV market may have peaked, in part because they have shifted some of their focus to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. PHEVs, which combine a polluting petrol engine with a smaller battery, are not yet subject to EU tariffs.“I think they are hitting a wall when it comes to pure electric models,” said Schmidt. “They will prioritise PHEVs over the next 12 months given hybrids are omitted from extra tariffs placed on BEVs only. With that loophole set to close in the next 12 months, they will aim to maximise that gap in the door for as long as possible.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“Given shipping capacity remains limited, more PHEVs means fewer BEVs, which have likely peaked for now. BEVs will take priority again once local EU production comes online.”Oliver Blume, the chief executive of Volkswagen, last month called for that to change. Blume said European PHEVs were uncompetitive against Chinese equivalents. The German newspaper Handelsblatt has reported that the EU is considering extending the levies to PHEVs.The figures also showed a rebound in sales for Tesla across Europe. The US carmaker suffered a steep decline in sales last year amid a backlash against chief executive Elon Musk’s alliance with Donald Trump and European far-right political parties.Tesla sales rose by 60% year-on-year, helped by an increase in demand for cheaper versions of its Model 3 and Model Y. The Model Y was the bestselling individual model across Europe during the period.