BYD sold more battery electric vehicles (BEVs) than market leader Tesla in Europe for the first time last month, as the Chinese carmaker continued to make inroads despite hefty tariffs on cars imported from the mainland.
Shenzhen-based BYD, which also makes plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), sold 7,231 BEVs in April, a year-on-year increase of 169 per cent, according to data compiled by market research firm Jato Dynamics from 28 countries in Europe. Tesla’s sales fell 49 per cent to 7,165 units in the same period.
“Although the difference between the two brands’ monthly sales totals may be small, the implications are enormous,” said Felipe Munoz, a global analyst at Jato Dynamics, on Thursday. “This is a watershed moment for Europe’s car market, particularly when you consider that Tesla has led the European BEV market for years, while BYD only officially began operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022.”
Tesla’s sales fell despite steady demand in Europe last month. BEVs accounted for 17 per cent of the 1.1 million new cars registered on the continent in April, compared with 13.4 per cent a year earlier, while PHEVs accounted for 9 per cent of sales, up from 6.9 per cent a year earlier, according to Jato Dynamics.
Chinese carmakers were behind much of that growth, according to the research firm. Despite huge tariffs imposed by the European Union (EU), Chinese firms’ BEV sales jumped 59 per cent year on year in April to nearly 15,300 units, while carmakers from Europe, Japan, South Korea and the US posted a 26 per cent increase in sales, it added.
In the PHEV segment, Chinese carmakers’ sales surged 546 per cent year on year to 9,649 units, accounting for nearly 10 per cent of PHEVs registered in the bloc.
Sales of Chinese PHEVs in the EU increased after the bloc imposed tariffs of as much as 45.3 per cent on Chinese-built BEVs in November to prevent an influx of inexpensive models. In response, many carmakers from the mainland expanded their European offerings by introducing PHEVs, which are not affected by the tariffs.
BYD and Chery sold 3,269 and 757 PHEVs, respectively, in the EU in March, up from near zero in July 2024, when provisional tariffs were first introduced, according to data from research firm Rho Motion earlier this month.
“To gain traction in Europe, [Chinese] carmakers have responded to the threat posed by tariffs by focusing on other power trains, such as plug-in hybrids, to maintain the momentum behind their global expansion plans,” Rho Motion said.
Jato Dynamics’ Munoz said it remained to be seen whether the EU would respond to the boom in Chinese-made PHEVs by imposing tariffs on these vehicles too.
In response to disruptions from US tariffs, the EU and China are negotiating the European levies and exploring the possibility of setting a price floor for Chinese EVs.
Chinese EV makers are also speeding up the construction of factories on the continent to counter the tariffs. BYD’s first European car factory in Hungary is expected to start production in the second half of this year.
BYD also planned to establish its European headquarters and a new research and development centre in Hungary, CEO and president Wang Chuanfu said this week.
