Automotive industry: Chinese companies outdo first European brands in Germany - only one segment remains unaffected
Chinese brands are rapidly gaining market share in Europe, a Handelsblatt analysis shows. The attack is particularly hard on a large automotive group.
Düsseldorf – Chinese automobile manufacturers are rapidly gaining market share in Europe, with Chinese brands accounting for 8.7% of new registrations from January to July, compared to just 0.6% in 2021. According to a Handelsblatt analysis based on Dataforce figures, this represents nearly a threefold increase compared to 2024.
Industry insiders are growing concerned that the Chinese manufacturers' offensive could accelerate further, intensifying price competition in Europe and putting additional pressure on the already struggling carmaker margins. In the first seven months of the year, nearly 780,000 Chinese brand new vehicles have entered European roads – almost as many as were sold throughout all of 2025.
The Handelsblatt analysis reveals that the manufacturers first expanded their presence in Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as in the United Kingdom, learning from these experiences to now target the largest, yet also most challenging passenger car market of them all: Germany.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
