An electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) from BYD Co. Atto 3 on day two of the Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, February 27, 2024.
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Electric vehicles made in China will make up more than a quarter of EV sales in Europe this year, with the country’s share rising more than 5% from last year, according to a new policy analysis.
About 19.5% of battery electric vehicles sold in the EU last year were from China, with nearly a third of sales in France and Spain being EVs shipped from the Asian country, the European Federation of Transport and Environment (T&E). one paper shared Wednesday.
The share of Chinese-made vehicles in the region is expected to rise to just over 25 percent in 2024, according to T&E research, as Chinese brands such as BYD step up their global expansion.
While most EVs sold in the EU come from Western brands such as Tesla, which manufacture and ship EVs from China, Chinese brands alone are set to account for 11% of the region’s market in 2024. That share could to reach 20% by 2027, T&E was projected.
The findings come as the European Commission investigates subsidies given to electric vehicle makers in China to see if they unfairly undercut local companies. Non-Chinese brands shipped from China, such as Tesla and BMW, could be included in the ongoing subsidy investigation.
According to Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, incentives put in place in China in the early 2010s led to an increase in startups and an increase in battery capacity in the country, paving the way for affordable EVs.
“The EU and the US are far behind because they don’t have quality EVs at affordable prices because the legacy automakers have only recently focused on designing and manufacturing them,” he added.
T&E suggested that EV tariffs would need to rise to at least 25%, from the current 10%, to make “mid-range” electric cars such as sedans and SUVs from China more expensive than their EU counterparts if and compact SUVs and “bigger cars”. would remain slightly cheaper.
However, the policy group said this would also require Europe to become more self-sufficient in battery cell production for the domestic EV industry.
“The conundrum they find themselves in is that they cannot make affordable (and profitable) EVs without Chinese batteries because the Chinese are way ahead of both the EU and the US in terms of mining, refining and mineral construction,” said Sino Auto. Le.
In response to the policy risks associated with shipping Chinese-made electric vehicles to Europe, China-based manufacturers such as Tesla and BYD have stepped up production efforts on the continent. Tesla is looking to expand its assembly plant in Germany, while BYD plans to build a factory in Hungary.
“The target [of tariffs] should be to identify EV supply chains in Europe while accelerating the EV push in order to reap the full economic and climate benefits of the transition,” T&E said in its report.