Chinese electric car sales in Europe are “screeching to a halt” amid the growing threat of a trade war between Beijing and Brussels, according to experts.
Analysis by consultancy firm Schmidt Automotive shows that only 116,100 new Chinese-branded cars were registered across Western Europe in the first four months of 2024, accounting for just 2.9pc of the new vehicle market.
This was down slightly from their 3pc share during the same period a year earlier.
Although they sell large numbers of hybrids at home, brands including SAIC Motor-owned MG and BYD are largely focused on selling electric vehicles in the UK and Europe.
The figures apply to pre-2004 European Union countries, plus the UK, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Matthias Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Automotive, said Chinese brands appeared to have “hit the buffers” because they were struggling to acquire enough specialist ships to transport their cars.
However, a huge car carrier vessel operated by BYD, which had previously been dispatched to Europe, was recently sent to Brazil instead, suggesting that a looming threat of higher import duties in Europe may also be making the Chinese wary.
Brussels is investigating claims that China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry has benefitted from massive state subsidies, with the European Commission poised to announce whether it will impose trade tariffs next week.
In response, Beijing has accused the EU of “protectionism” and threatened to retaliate.
Mr Schmidt said: “Sales of Chinese-branded cars in Western Europe are now starting to slow demonstrably.
“One reason for that is there are simply not enough roll-on, roll-off shipping vessels to distribute these vehicles.
“But these ships are also now being sent elsewhere, suggesting that the European rollout of Chinese cars is either not going according to plan or that they are worried they will experience protectionism on the Continent.
“The European Union has warned that any tariffs imposed could be retrospective, so it might not make much sense to rush loads of cars out there right now.”
According to Mr Schmidt’s analysis, the vast majority of Chinese-branded models come from MG, which last year launched the electric MG4 in the UK.
The company accounted for 61pc of models shipped from China, with its volumes rising 23pc in the first four months of this year.
However, MG’s sales grew by just 0.5pc in April, suggesting a marked slowdown that coincided with the end of a stricter subsidy regime in France, he added.
Meanwhile, BYD registered just 9,970 new electric cars from January to April.
It comes after Jato Dynamics, another automotive consultancy, also warned of a Chinese sales slowdown in Europe. Felipe Muñoz, an automotive expert at the company, said another factor weighing on Chinese vehicle sales was “the perception of lower quality” among European consumers.
He said: “It was always the case that the Chinese invasion of Europe’s car market was going to take longer than what people first assumed.
“Chinese brands are suffering from the wider slowdown in the EV market, but it is also going to take time to change the perception consumers have of them.
“These are very good products that have improved a lot in terms of quality, but changing minds is not a quick process – ask the Japanese and the Koreans, who needed many years to get where they are now in Europe.
“I think it tells you a lot that the best-selling EV brand in Europe is MG, which many people still perceive to be a British brand.”