Chinese Car Brands Projected to Capture 10% of UK New-Car Market in 2025
Chinese automotive brands MG, BYD, and Chery are projected to sell about 200,000 new cars in the UK in 2025, representing roughly 10% of the market. In the first 11 months of 2025, Chinese-brand sales in the UK reached approximately 187,800 out of a total of 1.87 million new-car sales, which is about double the amount sold in 2024.
Similar Chinese-brand market shares of around 10% are seen in Spain and Norway, while the Western Europe average is about 6%. This growth comes despite the European Union imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) last year, ranging from 17% to 38%, which apply only to EVs; hybrids can still compete by undercutting European rivals.
In the third quarter of 2025, less than 40% of the Chinese-brand models entering Western Europe were pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The EU's plans for a 2035 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles have been relaxed to allow up to a 10% internal combustion engine (ICE) share, aimed at supporting battery-plant investments.
Analyst Matthias Schmidt forecasts that Chinese manufacturers' share in Europe will peak just under 10% around 2028 to 2030, with China’s battery-car share reaching about 13%. Tu Le of Sino Auto Insights notes that China is approaching the EU market region by region, with the UK and Norway remaining more open due to the absence of tariffs on Chinese car imports.
