Chinese OEMs surpass Japanese brands for the first time
- Matthias Schmidt
- Jul 22
- 2 min read
New passenger car registrations from Chinese brands, regardless of production location, surpassed those from Japanese brands for the first time in the latest quarter (Q2 2026), making them the largest group of Asian brands for the first time. Chinese models accounted for 352,098 new models across all fuels entering the region between April and June, accounting for 10.7% market share of the new car market. Japanese brands, while achieving an equal market share, trailed Chinese models by just under 2,000 units, recording 350,186 new units.
The likes of Toyota, Nissan and Mazda are at risk of falling below 10% market share, something that hasn't occurred on an annual basis since 1982, according to our own historical data. Korean brands meanwhile achieved 230,066 new units with their market share dropping to 7% during the latest quarter.
The rise to double-digit territory for Chinese brands marks the first time that has been achieved on a quarterly basis, rising by 2.1ppts sequentially over the previous quarter, while volumes doubled over the same quarter last year, although it was a low comparison benchmark given Sino brands were still readjusting to anti-subsidy tariffs placed on BEVs from the end of 2024. We remain slightly cautious, however, on the positive quarterly result recorded during the past 3 months, given we believe there was likely a front-loading element associated with the GSR-2 type approval regulatory change from July across the EU, with Chinese manufacturers in particular pushing inventory models prior to the change, something that was witnessed during the previous GSR-2 change two years ago.
There is also the likelihood that front-loading of non-BEV models in particular is currently taking place, given the likelihood that the European Commission is pushing to widen the scope of anti-subsidy tariffs to expand beyond being applied exclusively to BEVs as is the case currently.
SAIC's MG maintained its position as the number one Sino brand just in front of BYD. Chery is now just 0.3ppts behind the Sino leaders, both of which commanded 2.5% market share so far this year. European brands lost 2.8ppts y/y during the opening 6 months, contracting to below two-thirds of the market (65.1%), with VW brand contributing the most to those losses, seeing a 1ppt y/y fall in market share and in risk of dipping below 10% share for the first time in over two decades on an annual basis.
Tesla was a major gainer, gaining 0.8ppts y/y to 2.5% share, adding more headaches to incumbents.
* Chinese OEMs doesn't include Volvo Cars which we still classify as European.
This includes extracts from one of our full studies which are available below. To discover more about out studies just contact us
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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