China's $7.5bn EU hybrid export boom faces new curbs under fresh China-EU trade deal

From the Newshound archive · first published 12 October 2026.

Chinese automakers face a major new obstacle after the EU and China reached an agreement to curb hybrid vehicle exports to Europe, closing the loophole that had let companies such as BYD, SAIC and Chery avoid existing EV tariffs. Chinese hybrid exports to the EU tripled to $7.5 billion in the first half of this year, nearly nine times the $845 million recorded across all of 2021. Brussels and Beijing have yet to spell out how volume caps and price floors will work, with technical talks still ongoing.

SAIC, BYD and Chery accounted for over 90% of Chinese hybrid sales in the EU, with hybrids making up more than half their European revenues.