Jato has compiled a ranking of the most popular Chinese brands and models from the Middle Kingdom in Europe in 2024. MG outperforms its peers, while two previously unknown brands emerge in their first year of presence on the Old Continent.

Xpeng, BYD, Zeekr, Omoda… Chinese car brands continue to flock to Europe. While not all are successful, some are continuing their incursion with competitive models distributed through a network that is beginning to expand across Europe.  Registrations of cars made in China have surpassed those of Japanese, British, and Turkish vehicles, Jato points out. China has become the sixth-largest country of origin for new vehicles registered in Europe, behind Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, France, and Romania. “ China’s influence in Europe—both through Chinese manufacturers and Chinese-made vehicles—continues to grow. Its products are very competitive, but the impact of the introduction of tariffs on its growth remains to be determined, ” explains Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics.

MG dominates, BYD capitalizes and others emerge

MG has established itself as the Chinese manufacturer with the most presence in Europe with 243,400 registrations made in 2024. The brand, which returned to Europe in 2018 after a seven-year absence, notably offers attractive electric vehicles with an attractive price/quality ratio. Enough to convince a large customer base. Thus, the firm has the luxury of placing four models in the Top 5 best-selling models last year. The ZS compact SUV comes in first place with 97,901 units sold. Another compact SUV from MG, the EHS, available only as a plug-in hybrid version, attracted 53,942 customers, 2,000 more than the MG4 electric compact , which comes in fourth place. A rival to the Renault Clio E-Tech full hybrid, the MG3 hybrid city car, with 31,274 sales, is in fifth place.

The Geely group, which owns Volvo, Polestar, Smart, and Lynk & Co., also ranks high. MG’s dominance didn’t prevent the Volvo EX30 from taking second place in this ranking, with 79,023 units delivered in Europe last year. The urban SUV, which will be manufactured in Belgium from April 21, 2025, is the first 100% electric model, far ahead of the Polestar 2 fastback sedan with its 23,924 models sold. Polestar will also make its debut in France in the coming weeks. BYD takes second place among manufacturers and has three models among the twelve most popular: the Atto 3 electric compact SUV (8e: 13,926 units), the Seal U family SUV (11e: 11,718 units) and the compact electric Dolphin (12e: 11,509 units).

New Cars: The Best-Selling Chinese Brands and Models from China in Europe

For its first year of presence in Europe, the Chery group’s Omoda brand took fifth place among Chinese manufacturers, ahead of Xpeng, but behind Zeekr and DR. Its 14,300 sales are all due to its compact SUV, simply named 5, which rises to seventh place among the best-selling models. These figures are higher than those of the Volvo EC40 and Smart #1 , which come ninth and tenth respectively with 13,722 and 11,778 purchase orders fulfilled in 2024. Finally, although present only in the last months of the year, the Jaecoo brand ranks tenth, behind Lynk & Co and Wey (Great Wall Motors group).