Chinese OEMs continue to take a significant share of the European PHEV market as China and Europe are said to have struck a deal
Chinese passenger car manufacturers continue to pivot to plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) across Europe, now accounting for nearly 30% of newly registered PHEV models each month. However, in volume terms, PHEV volumes remain lower than pure-electric BEV models, making the dual-motor variants a larger fish in a smaller sea.
The Chinese share of the Western European BEV market has hit a threshold just below 15% for now, as our European Electric Car Study forecast in previous editions, with early penetration gains now establishing themselves at that level, as incumbents bring more cost-efficient models thanks to the proliferation of LFP battery chemistry across Western models, accompanied by premium OEMs introducing more compelling, higher-range and faster charging software-defined models.
Meanwhile, August was impacted by a strong French BEV market, with the latest launch of the social-leasing scheme across the country, which excludes Chinese models, as well as the purchase subsidy scheme, which limited those Chinese penetration gains.
Across PHEVs, Chinese-branded models now account for twice the share of the plug-in hybrid market as BEVs do in the equivalent pure-electric end of the market.
However, according to Politico Europe, the Chinese government is said to have struck a deal with the European Union on exporting hybrid electric vehicles this Friday.
It followed a two-day visit by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who was under intense pressure from EU member states, including France and, of late, Germany, to strike a deal and align with their European partners. In a statement from the Commissioner issue late on Friday her said, "First, we have reached a shared understanding to moderate China's exports of hybrids and plug-in hybrids to the EU. This opens the prospect of cutting China's exports by more than a half."
Up until now,, PHEVs have been excluded from the scope of the anti-subsidy tariffs aimed exclusively at BEVs since November 2024, which partly caused Chinese OEMs to mitigate and focus on PHEVs and consequently see their share of the hybrid drivetrain double relative to the equivalent BEV share of the market.
Several more anomalies affected Chinese penetration in August from both a PHEV and BEV perspective,, as illustrated in the monthly studies, which provide not only the data but also the analysis behind the story and key forward-looking guidance.
This is just a small extract from one of our full studies which are available below.
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Scope: Western Europe's 18 Markets: EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement, plus EFTA markets Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, plus UK – accounting for 90% of the enlarged European region.
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