Chinese car manufacturers continue to struggle to see their combined share of the West European new passenger car market surpass 3% market share penetration on a cumulative basis, according to the European Electric Car Study data published by Schmidt Automotive Research each month.
During the same period, Japanese OEMs accounted for 13.3% of the total market, and Koreans accounted for 7.8%.
However, focus in on the pure electric BEV market only, and Chinese model volumes combined share was 3x as large, giving an indication of the area of the market in which they are focusing their attention.
In terms of the total market, Italy significantly absorbed the largest amount of new Chinese brand models through a diverse house of re-branded Chery models through DR Motors under its core brand as well as its sub-brands Evo and Sportequipe contributing to over 40% of the total amount of Sino new models there so far this year, while MG commanded over half of all the new Chinese models there.
Just over 12,000 of the 52,000 Chinese brand models were delivered in Italy, accounting for almost every fourth model ending up here.
Norway witnessed the highest market penetration by Chinese brand models this year, with every ninth model coming from a Chinese brand. This again demonstrates the trajectory Sino-OEMs are taking, with Norway witnessing its market dominated by BEV volumes so far this year, with over 90% of all new passenger cars being pure electric models between January and February.
Across the total region, over 30 various Chinese brand names made up the total amount of Chinese models. ◼︎︎
The European Electric Car Study published by Schmidt Automotive Research each month and is available to purchase as a single edition or an annual subscription.
The study now also features a double page in-depth look at the Chinese OEMs as their European expansion slowly begins.
*Western Europe 18 Markets: EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement plus EFTA markets Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, plus UK