Not only in Belarus. Sales of Chinese cars in Europe are growing at a furious pace

Illustrative photo. Photo: "Nasha Niva"

The Belarusian market is already dominated by Chinese brands

According to new car sales in Belarus, 6 out of 10 brands in the top 10 were Chinese car brands. In first place were Chinese-Belarusian Geely/Belgee. In total, they accounted for almost 32 thousand cars.

But many purely Chinese cars were also sold:
— BYD — 6610;
— Dongfeng — 5040;
— Voyah — 2530;
— Li Auto — 2230.

Павялічыць

Top 15 (de facto 14) brands sold in Belarus in 2025. Photo: av.by

And while in Belarus the love for Chinese brands is largely connected with sanctions, in Europe the purchase of Chinese-made cars is entirely voluntary.

How the situation in Europe has changed

European countries are still far from Belarusian figures, but the growth in demand for Chinese cars there is phenomenal.

For example, the Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor, which owns the formerly British brand MG, became the first Chinese manufacturer to sell 1 million cars in the EU and UK.

Of these, more than 300 thousand were sold in 2025. Last year, MG sales in Europe grew by a quarter.

But the original Chinese brand BYD showed even greater success: in European countries, it sold 268% more cars than in 2024. In total, 187,657 BYD cars were sold in the EU, EFTA, and UK last year.

Павялічыць

Screenshot: byd.pgd.pl

Besides SAIC Motor (MG) and BYD, Chery Group crossed the hundred-thousand mark: their total sales volume in Europe in 2025 reached 120,207 units.

Polestar sales in Europe grew by 56% and amounted to 47,579 units.

In addition, Geely, Zeekr, and Lynk & Co are increasing sales in Europe: these three brands accounted for 68,499 cars sold in Europe last year.

Last year, "Chinese" cars accounted for 6.1% of the new car market in Europe. By the end of the year, already 9.5% of new cars sold in Europe were Chinese.

Additional duties curb growth

At the same time, it must be understood that this growth is occurring under the influence of additional protective tariffs from the European Union.

Thus, since the end of 2024, the EU has had additional customs duties on electric vehicles made in China — depending on the manufacturer, they range from 17 to 35.3%.

Therefore, the main growth in sales of Chinese cars in the EU is due to hybrids, on which standard 10% duties apply.

And while car supplies from China to Europe are growing, from Europe to China, they are falling. Already in March 2026, it became known that supplies of Chinese cars to Europe for the first time exceeded the export of European automotive products to the PRC.

• 1
• 1
• 3
• 8
• 3
• 1
• 2
• 0