Since the end of October this year, the EU has imposed tariffs of up to 45.3% on electric vehicles imported from China. Some Chinese auto companies have begun to adjust their market strategies in Europe, switching from pure electric models to models with multiple energy forms and increasing plans to export hybrid vehicles.

As early as May this year, BYD (276.510, 0.00, 0.00%) launched the BYD SEAL U DM-i model (corresponding to the domestic BYD Song PLUS) in the European market. In September this year, Lynk & Co launched the upgraded version of Lynk & Co 01 in the European market, equipped with a new plug-in hybrid system and a new car-machine system.

Interface News previously reported that SAIC Group (18.740, 0.00, 0.00%), which has a certain market share in the European market, has increased its exports of hybrid vehicles to Europe since June, equipped with the latest developed DMH hybrid system. MG also plans to launch products equipped with various power systems for the European market in the future.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, pure electric exports to Europe slowed down significantly from January to October this year. In October, China's exports of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) to the EU suddenly gained strong growth, exceeding the number of traditional hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) exported to Europe that month.

In October this year, exports of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and traditional hybrid electric vehicles accounted for 20% of China's total automobile exports to Europe, a figure that was only 8% for the whole of last year, while the proportion of electric vehicle exports in October further dropped to 57%.

Shanghai Sieton Group predicts that Chinese auto companies will promote the growth of hybrid vehicle exports in order to avoid tariffs on exports to Europe. It is expected that the number of hybrid vehicles exported from China to the European market will increase by 20% this year, and the growth rate may be faster next year.

In addition to the impact of tariff policies, the development of pure electric vehicles in the European market has not been smooth. Factors such as rising energy costs, reduced car purchase subsidies and insufficient charging infrastructure have hindered Europeans from choosing electric vehicles to a certain extent. In contrast, more economical hybrid models are favored by the market.

A European auto market practitioner said that at present, the price of European brands' plug-in hybrid models is generally much higher than that of oil vehicles, so there is indeed a market gap for Chinese brands. Take BYD's new model as an example. The starting price of the car is 35,900 euros, which is 700 euros lower than Volkswagen's best-selling PHEV model Tiguan and 10% cheaper than Toyota's C-HR PHEV. China's plug-in hybrid models will still have price advantages.

It is worth noting that, like pure electric models, the market share of plug-in hybrid models in Europe is also decreasing. According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), in the first 10 months of this year, sales of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe fell by 4.9% and 7.9% year-on-year respectively. In October, plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for 7.7% of the automobile market share, down from 8.4% last year.

Some people believe that according to the sales volume and charging pile usage in the European market, it is still uncertain whether the models exported by China to Europe will shift to plug-in hybrids on a large scale in the future.

The market share of hybrid vehicles, which have always occupied a considerable market share in Europe, rose from 28.6% in October last year to 33.3%, exceeding the registration volume of gasoline vehicles for the second consecutive month. The latest data from AECE shows that in the current automotive power structure in the European market, traditional hybrid models account for 33.3%, plug-in hybrid models account for 7.7%, and pure electric vehicles account for 14.4%.

This means that compared with pure electric and plug-in hybrid models, the growth of traditional hybrid models in the European market is more obvious.