China Supplied 42% of EU Battery-Electric Car Imports in 2025

What changed

China supplied 42% of the European Union’s imported battery-electric cars by value in 2025, the largest share among the EU’s listed suppliers. Those imports were worth €15 billion; South Korea accounted for 27%, Japan 9% and the United States 8%.

The wider picture was also growing:

• EU car imports reached €45.1 billion, up 4% from 2024.
• EU car exports reached €64.7 billion, up 10%.
• EU factories produced 4.8 million electrified vehicles, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and non-plug-in hybrid cars, up 900,000 from 2024.

Why it matters

The numbers show an electric-car market with a clear two-way flow. The EU imported €15 billion in battery-electric cars, while exporting €28.6 billion of them. Its own battery-electric cars went mainly to the United Kingdom, the United States, Norway and Türkiye.

That makes China’s 42% share important, but not self-explanatory. The figures are based on value, and they do not say whether the cars were Chinese brands, vehicles made in China for other companies, or some combination of both. They also do not show the number of cars, their prices or the effect of tariffs.

The sharper takeaway is industrial rather than purely commercial: the EU is producing more electrified vehicles while relying heavily on an external source for battery-electric imports. Informed speculation points to a market still being shaped by where cars are made as much as by where they are sold. If that supplier mix changes, the effect would reach both the EU’s import bill and the manufacturers serving its growing electric-car market.