Chinese brands hit a record 5.1% share in Europe in H1 2025: what the JATO numbers actually say

Chinese car brands reached a record 5.1% share of new car registrations across 28 European markets in the first half of 2025, according to data from JATO Dynamics published on 23 July 2025. That is nearly double the share the group held in the same period of 2024, on a 91% increase in volume. In June alone, JATO counted the Chinese brands collectively outselling Mercedes, and across the half-year they finished ahead of Ford, which took a 3.8% share.

The growth came despite a European market that was itself shrinking: June registrations fell 4.4% year-on-year, and H1 volumes were down 0.3%. JATO attributes the slump to high prices, geopolitical and economic tensions, and post-pandemic market conditions. Against that backdrop, the Chinese brands were the notable gainers, taking share largely at the expense of European, Japanese, Korean and American automakers, per JATO's analysis.

Five brands doing the work

JATO names five automakers behind the surge: BYD, Jaecoo, Omoda, Leapmotor and Xpeng. Their individual trajectories in the H1 2025 data were very different.

• BYD registered 70,500 units in H1 2025, up 311% year-on-year, with 15,565 in June alone putting it among the top-selling 25 brands for the month. The Seal U was, alongside the Volkswagen Tiguan, the top-selling PHEV in Europe in June.
• Jaecoo and Omoda, both part of Chery, grew substantially on the strength of non-electric models: plug-in hybrid SUVs accounted for 29% of their combined June registrations, and traditional ICE models almost two-thirds (63%). The Jaecoo 7 was Europe's 9th top-selling PHEV in June.
• Leapmotor registered over 8,300 units in June, driven largely by its T03 city car and C10 SUV.
• Xpeng was, per JATO, the most successful high-end Chinese brand in Europe in 2025 so far, with 8,338 H1 registrations, of which 5,615 were the G6 SUV.

Tariffs, and a pivot to hybrids

EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles have not stopped the growth. JATO's Felipe Munoz noted in the June release that the brands' momentum is partly due to a push toward alternative powertrains such as plug-in hybrids and full hybrids. The H1 data backs that up: BYD's BEV share of its own sales mix declined compared with H1 2024, as did SAIC's, which JATO reads as a strategic pivot toward other powertrains to mitigate the impact of the tariffs. Excluding Tesla, BYD remained the OEM most dependent on BEVs, at almost two-thirds (64%) of its sales mix.

Who lost share

The Chinese gains came alongside steep losses elsewhere. Stellantis saw the largest share decrease in H1 2025, falling from 16.7% to 15.3% year-on-year, with volumes down 8.6% in the half and 11.7% in June. Tesla's share fell from 2.4% to 1.6%, and SAIC Motor — owner of MG — outsold Tesla for the first time, at 162,153 units against Tesla's 109,264.

How the counting works

Two caveats matter when reading these figures. First, the scope is Europe-28: JATO's 28 European markets, not the EU27 alone. Second, JATO's Chinese-brand figures exclude Western brands owned by Chinese manufacturers — so SAIC's outselling of Tesla is counted separately from the 5.1% brand-share figure, since MG sits under SAIC. The May 2025 data in the same series showed the trend building earlier: 65,808 units and a 5.9% share in that single month, up 111% year-on-year from a 2.9% share.

Checking the numbers yourself

Registration data is publicly reported by several bodies, and their scopes differ. JATO publishes its Europe-28 press releases on its own website, where the 23 July 2025 release carries the H1 figures quoted here and the 24 June 2025 release carries the May figures. If you cross-check against any other source, compare like with like: same market scope, same brand-inclusion rules, and the same month or half-year period — otherwise the shares will not reconcile.