Chinese electric cars are hardly sold in Europe, because Europeans do not trust the Chinese or their cars, according to this study

The fear of Chinese manufacturers electric cars It’s real. European brands fear for their particular piece of the continent, which has led the European Union to raise new duty for the import of electric cars made in china. Even so, this has not prevented a new Chinese brand from being introduced in Europe from time to time, always with a model that is significantly cheaper than its European rivals.

However, only One in 10 electric cars in Europe is Chinese. We are far from the invasion that European brands fear so much. And the reason could simply be that they are Chinese cars. At least, that is what they explain in a study by Nielsen IQ for Bloomberg.

They distrust China as a country

China’s D as a country Chinese brands took 10.3% of the electric car market in Europe (including the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland), according to data from the independent German analysis firm Schmidt Automotive Research (SAR). That’s 93,100 electric cars. By comparison, the Volkswagen Group sold around 317,200 electric cars in the same period and Tesla sold 161,525 cars.

So, although most of the models offered by Chinese brands are essentially good products with a competitive price, sales are not really taking off. According to Michael Dean and Giacomo Reghelin, authors of the survey conducted by Nielsen IQ, these brands “must face the strong loyalty enjoyed by European national brands”, although they are not doing particularly well in the electric segment either, it must be said.

Around the 74% of respondents In the aforementioned Bloomberg Intelligence study they expressed their Concern about buying a Chinese brand carciting quality (25%), safety (14%) and Chinese technology (17%).

Even more revealing was the survey of Belgian consumers, in which Lijnen found that those least likely to buy a Chinese car cited distrust of the country as the top priority. 47% of them say they do not trust China directlySpecific concerns and reluctance regarding vehicle quality, technology or safety are cited by less than 20% of respondents.

Part of their research involved showing consumers advertisements for Chinese cars with their country of origin hidden. Responses were often positive toward those cars until they discovered that the cars were Chinese. Then they were negative.

These reluctance or prejudices are less frequent in whom They declare themselves convinced by the electric car In general. In a survey of European drivers, those who intend to buy an electric car were more open to models made in China than European drivers in general. 34% said they would not mind buying a Chinese car, while among those who have not yet decided 100% on an electric car, only 20% would be willing to buy a Chinese one.

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“(Chinese electric cars) may have reviews that say they are actually very good quality,” said Bert Lijnen, an automotive consultant at Nielsen IQ who has researched consumer misgivings about China. “But what do you do about this perception of the country?”

The two major Chinese brands present in Europe with electric cars, BYD y MGare an example of these prejudices that affect Chinese brands. While BYD sold 16,000 electric cars in Europe in the first half of 2024, MG placed 31,922 units of the MG 4, taking it to fourth place among the best-selling electric cars.

It is true that MG abused self-registration to have stock and avoid tariffs, but still, for many customers, MG remains a historic English brandeven though everything is made in China and its European headquarters are not even in the United Kingdom (they are in Amsterdam), while almost nobody knows BYD.

Chinese brands cannot rely solely on their lower prices than their European competitors to play a relevant role. They need improve its reputation among European car buyerssomething that BYD, for example, has started to do with a series of large-scale sponsorships such as at the last European Championship.

MG 4

In essence, Chinese brands are experiencing the same reluctance that Japanese and South Korean brands faced when they arrived in Europe, including protectionist measures. Forty years ago, Europe imposed a maximum sales quota on Japanese brands. They could only sell X units per year, even if there was much more demand. It was pure protectionism.

Today, a quarter of new cars sold in Europe are from an Asian brand. And while Japanese brands took 20 or 30 years to gain acceptance, South Korean brands did so in less than 15 years. How long will it take for Chinese brands to be recognised as valid?

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