(Bloomberg) — Chinese automakers captured their smallest share of Europe’s electric vehicle market in eight months, after new tariffs added up to 35% to the cost of importing cars to the region.
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Manufacturers such as BYD Co. and SAIC Motor Corp.’s MG accounted for 7.4% of EV registrations across Europe in November, up from 8.2% in October, according to automotive researcher Dataforce. That is the lowest level since March.
The European Union imposed the additional tariffs in late October after an investigation found that state aid had given China’s electric vehicle industry an unfair advantage. Months of talks failed to resolve the trade dispute, prompting Brussels to add the new tariffs to an existing 10% import tariff.
While all electric vehicles produced in China are subject to tariffs, including those made by Western brands such as BMW AG and Tesla Inc., the amounts vary depending on how much support an automaker received and whether it cooperated with the EU investigation.
MG’s state-owned parent company, SAIC, was the hardest hit, with tariffs now totaling 45%. The once-British sports car brand, long the best-selling Chinese automaker in Europe, has faltered recently, recording a 58% drop in registrations last month from a year earlier, according to data provided by Jato Dynamics. , another research firm.
Amid MG’s withdrawal, BYD has soldiered on, with registrations across Europe more than doubling in November to 4,796 vehicles.
“BYD is taking over the market while MG is suffering big setbacks,” said Dataforce analyst Julian Litzinger. BYD’s growth is healthy, he added, with almost 80% of its registrations attributed to private and fleet customers.
Chinese automakers, eager to expand into major global markets, have encountered resistance in Europe after being effectively locked out of the United States. The country’s global electric vehicle exports fell 19% in November from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data released Monday, including a 23% drop to the EU.
Lower battery costs have given Chinese companies a pricing advantage, but the issue has sparked protectionist impulses as U.S. and EU officials work to protect local automakers. The industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of workers in Germany, France and Italy, is struggling with the transition away from combustion cars.
