The European Commission now wants to tax Chinese PHEVs
- Passenger cars with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) were sold in 594,439 units in the first five months of 2026 in Europe (30 countries: EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway) compared to 475,564 units in the first five months of 2025, representing a 25% increase over the period compared to the same period last year.
- Of the 594,439 PHEVs sold in Europe from January to May 2026, 143,239 were of Chinese origin, meaning they were Chinese-made, representing 24% of all PHEVs sold in Europe during that period. Last year, from January to May 2025, only 40,564 PHEVs of Chinese origin were sold in Europe, representing 8.5% of all PHEVs sold in Europe.
- Following the implementation in November 2024 of additional tariffs on imported all-electric vehicles, Chinese carmakers opted to prioritize imports of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Consequently, the increase in PHEV sales in Europe during the first five months of 2026 compared to 2025 is primarily attributable to Chinese-made PHEVs (an additional 102,675 units out of a total of 118,875 sales). The sales volume of Chinese-made PHEVs is now very close to that of all-electric vehicles sold in Europe. Thus, Chinese carmakers sold 148,940 all-electric cars in the first five months of 2026 (compared to 74,321 units in the first five months of 2025).
- The European Commission therefore now wants to tax PHEVs from China, in the same way that it had taxed battery electric vehicles from China in 2024.