In 2022 Chinese newcomers filled the space that Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz left empty at the Paris Motor Show. By 2026 Chinese cars were standing on Polish dealer stands with local price lists. We photographed them at eleven shows along the way, and the market moved with them. Dataforce counted a 6.1 per cent share of the European market for Chinese brands in 2025.
Paris 2022: Room For The Newcomers
When Paris reopened in October 2022, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Ferrari were absent, according to AFP. That gave the Chinese newcomers room. Great Wall Motor put its WEY and Ora brands in Pavilion 6 and called Europe “the most important market for us outside China”.
GWM announced the European launch of the WEY Coffee 01 plug-in hybrid, with a German entry price of €55,900 “fully equipped” (GWM release, 17 October 2022). It also showed three Ora models, one of them with a plate reading “The Next Ora Cat”. On Seres’s stand, a card for the Seres 3 gave €36,990 for the range in France, and €37,490 for the Luxe version with metallic paint.
The names did not last. Within 13 months GWM said it would fold Wey and Ora into a single GWM brand in Europe (electrive, 23 November 2023). The Coffee 01 would become the Wey 05, and the Ora Funky Cat the Ora 03.
2023: BYD Arrives And Munich Fills Up
BYD began selling in Belgium in October 2022. At the Brussels Motor Show in January 2023 we photographed its Tang, a seven-seat electric SUV, which autotijd.be’s Belgian list of that month put at €72,140.
In September, IAA Mobility in Munich said that 41 per cent of its exhibitors came from Asia and that the number of Chinese companies had more than doubled. AFP noted that the 14-brand Stellantis group was represented only by Opel. BYD showed six models, and we photographed its Han, the MG Marvel R and the same Seres 3 we had seen in Paris.
We filmed the Tang on BYD’s stand at the Brussels Motor Show in January 2023. Our BYD Tang First Look has the full story.
2024: Premieres In Geneva, A Roadster In Brussels
Geneva’s organiser counted 23 premieres at its February 2024 show, and six came from Chinese-owned brands. BYD’s Seal U DM-i, Tang, Denza N7 and Yangwang U8 were labelled European premieres, and the IM L6 and the MG3 Hybrid world premieres. Those labels need care, because BYD had shown Denza to Europeans at the IAA in 2023.
In January the Brussels Auto Show, which had almost no car brands, put an MG Cyberster on its catwalk. Its Belgian launch in September 2024 came in at €65,490 for the Trophy and €69,990 for the GT (MG Belux).
At Paris in October, XPENG showed the P7+ and called it “a teaser for the European audience” in its release of 14 October. The organiser filed it under European and French previews. It billed BYD’s Yangwang U8 as appearing for the first time in France, although BYD had shown it in Geneva that February.
Leapmotor’s C16 was, in Stellantis’s words, “making its first appearance at a European event”. Zeekr and MG were not on the organiser’s final exhibitor list.
We filmed the Cyberster at the Brussels Auto Show 2024. Our MG Cyberster First Look has the full story.
We filmed the XPENG P7+ at the Paris Motor Show 2024. Our XPENG P7+ First Look has the full story.
2025: Cars With Price Lists
By January 2025 the cars on the stands in Brussels had Belgian price lists. We photographed BYD’s Sealion 7, Seal U and Seal, and MG’s Cyberster and ZS Hybrid+. autotijd.be’s Belgian list of December 2024 had the Sealion 7 at €48,990 to €56,490.
At Auto Zürich in the autumn we photographed MG’s Cyberster again. Blick priced it in Switzerland at CHF 63,990 for the rear-drive car and CHF 67,990 for the all-wheel-drive one when it launched there (20 October 2024).
Warsaw in November 2025 went furthest. Auto Świat reported on 14 November, the day of our visit, that the DR Group was bringing five brands to Poland at the show: DR, EVO, Sportequipe, ICH-X and Tiger. It called them Chinese models assembled in Italy.
GAC, which began operating in Poland in 2025, showed the Hyptec HT and the Aion V. Thirteen of our 40 photographs from that day show cars badged Dongfeng, GAC, BAIC or one of the DR Group’s brands.
2026: XPENG, Zeekr And GAC
At Brussels in January 2026 XPENG’s P7+ returned with a different label. XPENG’s release called Brussels its “European debut”, and Febiac and electrive called it a European premiere. German prices were €46,600 to €53,600 (electrive, 12 January 2026). We also photographed a Zeekr 001, a Leapmotor C10 and a BYD Seal U.
In Warsaw this month, GAC’s Emkoo, Emzoom and GS7 PHEV stood on one stand, with a banner over the GS7 PHEV reading “Polska premiera”. Leapmotor’s B10, which we also photographed, runs from €30,400 to €39,500 in Germany (AutoBild list, 15 October 2026).
The Market Caught Up
The floor was pointing at something real. Dataforce, which covers the EU, Britain and the EFTA countries, counted about 811,000 vehicles sold by Chinese brands in 2025. That was up 99 per cent, for a 6.1 per cent share of the European market.
In December 2025 their share was 9.5 per cent, against 4.5 per cent a year earlier. MG was the largest at 307,282, and BYD with Denza sold 186,612 (China EV Home, 20 January 2026).
Labels That Moved
The one thing to read carefully is the premiere label. The same cars kept collecting new ones, so we attribute each to whoever used it.
| Car | Earlier showing | Later label |
|---|---|---|
| Denza N7 | IAA Munich, September 2023 (BYD) | “European premiere”, Geneva, February 2024 (organiser) |
| Yangwang U8 | Geneva, February 2024 (BusinessDay) | “For the first time in France”, Paris, October 2024 (organiser) |
| XPENG P7+ | “A teaser for the European audience”, Paris, October 2024 (XPENG) | “European debut”, Brussels, January 2026 (XPENG); “European premiere” (Febiac, electrive) |
Our Take
Three things stand out in our photographs. In 2022 a brand announced a launch and renamed the car within a year. From 2024 the same models kept returning under new labels, which is why we use “premiere” only as the organiser or brand did. By 2025 the cars had price lists, and in Warsaw they stood on Polish dealer stands.
Our photographs are a sample of the days we filmed and do not measure sales. Dataforce’s figures are the ones to follow from here, and the Chinese brands at Paris 2026 are the next chapter on the floor.
Independent editorial. No brand or organiser paid for or reviewed this article.
