Chinese electric vehicles are on course to make up a quarter of those sold in Europe this year, industry body Transport & Environment has said.
Last year they had near-one-fifth market share, and this its set to grow further over the course of 2024.
The data does, however, account for Tesla, Dacia and BMW models produced in China, whilst domestic brands such as BYD are set to make up 11% of sales this year, stretching to 20% in 2027.
This comes as the European Union mulls introducing import tariffs to work against subsidies offered to manufacturers in China.
“Tariffs will force carmakers to localise EV production in Europe, and that’s a good thing because we want these jobs and skills,” Transport & Environment senior director Julia Poliscanova commented.
“But tariffs won’t shield legacy carmakers for long. Chinese companies will build factories in Europe and when that happens our car industry needs to be ready.”
Such a tariff would stem from concerns that subsidies offered by China undercut European-made models, with the group noting a 25% tax would make the former more expensive than their European counterparts.
BYD signalled another round of aggressive price cuts earlier this week to take its Seagull model to 69,800 Yuan (€8,924 or £7,656), for instance.
“It is crucial that a higher tariff is accompanied by a regulatory push to increase production of EVs, including electrification targets for company car fleets by 2030 - on top of the agreed 100pc clean car goal in 2035,” Transport & Environment added.