Chinese carmakers retreat from record share of European sales

Chinese carmakers lost ground in Europe in October, slipping back from the record market share they captured a month earlier across the region.

In the hybrid categories, where manufacturers like BYD Co. and SAIC Motor Corp.’s MG have been on a tear, their share as a group fell around 3 percentage points to 12.6% from September’s peak, according to researcher Dataforce. New EV registrations, a core category for Chinese brands, declined to 11.8% from 12.6% across the European Union, EFTA countries and the UK.

The drop was mainly driven by lower sales in the UK, said Benjamin Kibies, a Dataforce analyst. In the rest of the market, Chinese share continued to rise, he said. Despite the pullback, Chinese brands notched their second-best month on record, based on EV, hybrid and overall market s