Chinese automakers hit a new milestone in Europe in September, capturing a record 7.4% market share, up from 5.5% in June and 3.3% a year earlier. The surge was driven by BYD, SAIC’s MG, and Chery, whose rapid expansion pushed Chinese car sales up 149% year on year to 90,571 units, in a market that grew just 11% overall.

MG remained the top-selling Chinese brand with 33,536 sales, followed by BYD with 24,336 — led by the popular Seal U plug-in hybrid SUV — and Chery’s trio of brands (Jaecoo, Omoda, and Chery) with 18,454 combined. Together, they accounted for 83% of all Chinese car sales in Europe. Geely Group trailed in fourth place with 7,465 sales, up 36%.

In response to the EU’s new tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, manufacturers have shifted toward hybrids. Plug-in hybrids climbed to 29% of Chinese automakers’ European sales (from 3% a year ago), while BEVs fell to 32% (from 48%).

Chinese brands also moved up the European rankings: MG rose to 15th place, overtaking Volvo, Nissan, and Citroën; BYD ranked 20th; and Chery’s Jaecoo and Omoda both entered the top 30.

For the year to date, Chinese brands’ European sales have jumped 83% to 522,587 units, raising their market share to 5.3% from 2.9% last year.

MG leads with 225,783 sales (+26%), followed by BYD (+308%) and Chery (+862%). If current momentum continues, these three could collectively exceed half a million European sales by the end of the year.