In anticipation of rising duties, Chinese electric cars occupied 11% of the market in Europe

Since July, import duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles in the European economic space have increased noticeably, but June statistics indicate that market participants, aware of the upcoming changes, tried to bring as many of these products to Europe as possible. Because of this, its share of the local market increased to 11%.

According to Dataforce statistics, the most active Chinese importer of electric vehicles in Europe at the end of June was SAIC Motor, which supplies the MG4 electric hatchback to the local market. Chinese cars arriving in Europe before July 4 are subject to duty at the previous rate of 10%; after this date, increased duties come into force, which for individual brands will reach a resulting value of 47.6%. By the way, it is SAIC products that are subject to the latest rate, which can explain the high activity of this importer in June.

Chinese automakers brought more than 23,000 electric vehicles to Europe by the end of June, this became a new record. Compared to May of this year, the increase was 72%. It is important to take into account that even electric cars of European brands assembled in China will be subject to increased duties in Europe, albeit at more lenient rates. The largest manufacturer of electric vehicles in China, BYD, will be able to import its cars into Europe at a rate of 27% until November. If the authorities of China and Europe do not find common ground on this issue by that time, customs duties on these categories of goods will continue to apply for the next five years.

An additional incentive for the growth of imports of Chinese electric vehicles to Europe in June was the launch of a subsidy program in Italy, which caused an increase in sales of cars with this type of power plant by the end of the month by 117%. The 200 million euros allocated to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles by citizens were distributed in just nine hours. About 60% of these funds went to individuals, the rest were distributed among corporate clients. This program allowed Italy to become one of the six largest countries in Europe in terms of the number of electric vehicles sold in June. Germany, leading the list, reduced sales volumes by 18.1% year-on-year, while France fell by 10.3%.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, June of this year showed the third-highest result for electric vehicle sales in the region, behind December 2022 and March 2023. In total, 208,872 new electric vehicles were registered in Europe at the end of the month.