The growing influence on European sales of Chinese brands as well as models built in China was evident in preliminary August sales data.
Twelve of the 16 brands with the biggest sales gains in August in Europe were either from China or produce all or a large portion of their models in the country, based on preliminary figures from market researcher Dataforce.
Those winners included:
- Lotus, for which 40 of the 121 models it sold in Europe were the China-made Eletre
- Ora, led by the Funky Cat's 2,293 sales, which topped models such as the Nissan X-Trail and Renault Twingo
- BYD, led by the Atto 3's 2,559 sales. The Atto 3 beat models such as the Lancia Ypsilon and the BMW 5 Series and 4 Series
- MG, which had two models among Europe's top 50, the MG4 (No. 40) and the ZS (No. 44).
Lotus, Ora, BYD and MG all increased their total sales by triple-digit percentages or higher in August, according to data representing 95 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.
The figures come as the European Commission investigates whether to set punitive tariffs to protect its producers from imports of cheaper Chinese electric vehicles that it says benefit from state subsidies.
But it's not just the Chinese that are benefiting. Smart increased its sales by 800 percent to 3,715, led by demand for the China-made #1.
Polestar, whose European sales rose 250 percent in August, gets all of its production from China.
A large percentage of the Tesla Model Ys and all Model 3s sold in Europe come from its Shanghai factory. Tesla also makes the Model Y at a plant near Berlin in Germany.
Other Chinese winners in August were Great Wall (+456 percent), Nio (+279 percent) and Xpeng (+115 percent).