An increasing number of Chinese car manufacturers are pushing in to the German market to establish themselves there and compete with the well-known European brands. Electric mobility is a particular focus here, as many Chinese manufacturers are already leading the way in technology in this field. To achieve their goal, they are expanding their presence in Europe. They are expanding their retailer networks, building production sites in Europe and intensifying their marketing. But Chinese car brands are still rare on German roads. They only account for 0.1 to 0.2 percent of the passenger car stock. Do they even have a chance?
Until now, Chinese car brands have not been very well known in Europe. For example, BYD is one of the largest automotive companies in China and the world. In 2023, the company opened its first exhibition space in Germany and began setting up a dealer network. In April of this year, BYD recorded a new record in Germany with 1,566 new vehicle registrations. The plan is to further increase the market share in Germany.
Other Chinese car brands:
The following Chinese brands were newly registered in Germany in January of this year:
- BYD: 235 cars
- Great Wall Motors (GWM): 330 cars
- Lynk & Co: 4 cars
- MG Roewe:1,645 cars
- Nio: 18 cars
- Polestar: 235 cars
- XPeng: 94 cars
MG: An automotive brand of the Chinese group SAIC Motor
So far, only MG Roewe has managed to achieve really significant successes. The first cars were sold in Germany in 2021. Back in 2024, MG managed to record 20,977 new registrations in Germany and now has a market share of at least 0.7 percent. In the BEVs segment, the market share is already 3.8 percent.
Which drive types are the focus?
While the aforementioned manufacturers for the Chinese market produce almost exclusively electric vehicles, some adapt to the European market and also produce hybrid vehicles and cars with combustion engines. MG offers the MG3 and SUV ZS models with a hybrid drive of roughly 200 hp. Great Wall also offers a number of combustion cars that are marketed under the Omoda brand. This means that they are also bypassing the EU's duties on Chinese electric vehicles and are still benefitting from the high demand for combustion engines and hybrids in Europe.
How good are the cars from China?
The ADAC car test shows that they have become considerably better. Many Chinese models have undergone the ADAC car test to date. All of them achieve the overall grade "Good" and are therefore "recommended".
The things that don't work so well to date are the partially unreliable assistance systems. These still do not always function reliably, can be somewhat temperamental at times, are prone to failure and have inadequate sensitivity. The acoustic warnings are also exaggerated. So there is still a need for catch-up here. Operation usually takes place exclusively via touchscreens. In some cases, the fonts are too small, translations are missing or poor, and software bugs are also not unusual. So there is still room for improvement here.
Outlook
At present, however, it is still difficult for the Chinese brands to gain a foothold in Europe. There are many reasons for this. For example, the sales and service networks have not yet been expanded well. Not much is being done in terms of marketing either. The Germans also have very close brand relations when it comes to buying cars and like to remain loyal to a brand. It is very difficult to win buyers over to unfamiliar car brands. The Chinese car brands have not positioned themselves in a niche in terms of price either. Many Chinese brands tend to be priced relatively high, making them more difficult to sell.
