Exclusive: During the opening quarter of 2024, Chinese manufacturers accounted for just a mere fraction of the West European new passenger car market's 3.05 million new volumes between January and March 2024
Just 2.9 per cent of all new cars registered so far this year across the 18 monitored Western European new car market, which includes the EU member states prior to the 2004 expansion plus the EFTA market Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland, and including the UK, saw just 87,665 new models enter the region.
However, this was a 25.7% increase over the 69,750 recorded during the same period last year, although Chinese manufacturers now include Smart from 2024 due to the majority of the Mercedes/Geely JV now belonging to #1 and #3 crossover models manufactured by Geely in China and based on the Chinese parent company's SEA2 all-electric architecture.
If Smart is included for the 2023 Q1 period, the increase was just 16.6% in a total market that rose by 4.7% during the same period.
West European new Chinese brand passenger car volumes by quarter
Period | Chinese brand new passenger car volumes |
Q1 2023 | 69,750 |
Q2 2023 | 90,333 |
Q3 2023 | 90,367 |
Q4 2023 | 94,617 |
Q1 2024 | 87,665 |
Source: Schmidt Automotive Research The rate of market penetration growth across the region has moved into reverse, with a 3.3 per cent market mix in the closing quarter of 2023, 3.2 per cent during Q3 2023, and 3.0 per cent during Q2 2023. The opening quarter of 2023 saw a mix of 2.4 per cent, however, resulting in a half-percentage-point year-on-year increase this year.