Although western manufacturers including Tesla, BMW and Renault make electric cars in the country, Chinese-branded EVs are also on the rise, research showsA quarter of electric vehicles sold in the EU this year will be made in China, as the country’s new entrants continue to take sales from local rivals, according to analysis from policy group Transport & Environment.
While many western manufacturers including Tesla, BMW and Renault make electric cars in China that they import to Europe, Chinese-branded EVs alone are set to account for 11 per cent of the EU’s electric car market this year, rising to 20 per cent by 2027. Chinese brands such as BYD have already risen from 0.4 per cent of the European EV market in 2019 to 8 per cent of sales last year.
A 25 per cent tariff – compared with 10 per cent at present – could raise up to €6 billion a year for the European Commission, and would “make EU cars competitive with EVs made in China,” the study suggested. China’s BYD is already building a new factory in Hungary that it expects to begin producing EVs at the end of next year. The company has said it wants to become one of the largest European EV brands by the end of the decade, and to account for one in ten battery cars sold in the region by 2030.