Walk through the halls of this year’s IAA Mobility Show in Munich and you’d be forgiven for considering you’d wandered into a Shanghai expo. Everywhere you viewed, Chinese autobuildrs were displaying off shiny new EVs, laying out bold expansion plans, and building it clear they want a largeger slice of the European market. GAC was the latest to join the crowd, announcing its Aion V crossover for Europe.
It might feel like too many players chasing the same acquireers, but the data displays their presence is starting to pay off.
Europeans Warm Up to Chinese Cars
Market research firm Escalent has been tracking how acquireers see Chinese autobuildrs. Its 2025 study, based on surveys in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, displays a sharp alter: nearly half of respondents (47%) declared they’d consider a Chinese car. Just a year ago, that number was only 31%.
By contrast, American brands are relocating the other way. Only 44% of acquireers declared they’d consider one this year, down from 51% in 2024. That’s a large fall in just 12 months.
Trust Is Creeping Up
Chinese brands are still not fully trusted, but they’re building progress. Nineteen percent of people in the survey declared they trust products from China, up from 12% last year. U.S. products, meanwhile, dropped to 24% from 31%.
KC Boyce, Escalent’s VP of Powertrain Innovation & Energy Transformation, considers politics is part of the story. “Geopolitics, tariffs, trade deals, and the U.S. stance on Russia and Ukraine, has to be playing into European acquireers’ sentiment,” he declared.
The Price Problem
For all the momentum, one thing hasn’t alterd: Europeans expect Chinese cars to be cheap. Seven out of ten respondents declared they consider a Chinese car should cost less than what they currently drive. Only 13% declared they’d pay more for one, even if it were better than rivals.
That’s not great news for brands attempting to shift upmarket. Aito, for example, displayed off its M8 and M9 luxury SUVs at IAA. But with the M9 priced close to $80,000 in China, convincing Europeans to skip the Mercedes or BMW for an unknown name won’t be straightforward.
Where They’re Winning
The real success story so far has been compacter EVs. Models like the MG4 and BYD Dolphin prove that when Chinese brands hit the sweet spot—compact, affordable, and practical—they can win over European acquireers. That’s exactly where demand is strongest, and where U.S. brands don’t have much to offer.
Americans Fade Into the Background
Aside from Tesla, most American autobuildrs aren’t displaying up in the parts of the market that matter most to Europeans. Without affordable EV hatchbacks or crossovers, they’re losing visibility, and trust.
The Bigger Picture
Chinese carbuildrs aren’t out of the woods yet. Trust levels are still low, and convincing Europeans to pay premium prices will be an uphill battle. But the trconclude is undeniable: Chinese brands are gaining ground, while U.S. ones are slipping.
If the IAA display is any indication, Europe’s next large automotive chapter may be written not in Detroit, but in Shenzhen and Shanghai.
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