Chinese car brands are set to reach 10% of new car sales in the UK in 2025, with over 200,000 vehicles expected to be sold. Leading brands like MG, BYD, and Chery are driving this growth, says Matthias Schmidt, an electric car analyst. Spain and Norway also see 10% of new cars from Chinese brands, while Western Europe averages 6%. China leads in electric vehicles thanks to strong government aid, battery supply control, and low labor costs. EU countries, especially Germany and France, worry about losing millions of car industry jobs. Norway encourages EVs with strong purchase subsidies. In the UK and Spain, many Chinese cars sold are hybrids, combining petrol engines and small batteries. Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, said, "The Chinese are tackling the EU region by region since there are pockets of support in some areas and pockets of opposition in others." The UK and Norway did not place tariffs on Chinese imports like the EU, opening the door for Chinese battery car sales. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reports Chinese car sales doubled to 187,800 in the UK for the first 11 months. Schmidt explains the UK is ripe for growth because it has no big local mass-market car brands. "With no genuine domestic volume brands for UK consumers to choose from, UK consumers crucially can no longer participate in what is known as patriotic purchasing," he said. Meanwhile, Japanese brands like Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi lost market share or exited the UK market. The EU imposed tariffs of 17% to 38% on Chinese electric cars last year but only on battery vehicles. This allowed Chinese companies to sell more hybrids, which face no tariffs, thus gaining market share and continuing to challenge European makers. Schmidt notes fewer than 40% of new Chinese models in Western Europe in late 2025 were fully electric. The EU recently eased plans to ban all petrol cars by 2035, now allowing 10% of sales to have internal combustion engines. European carmakers pushed for this to maintain profits for investing in electric vehicle factories. Some experts warn this could let Chinese makers pull further ahead. Schmidt forecasts Chinese brands will peak just under 10% market share in Europe between 2028-2030, with a 13% share in battery electric cars.