Story perspectives

EU Hits Chinese Tyres, PHEVs as Market Share Hits 10%

7/13/2026

Summary

EU Imposes Duties

EU imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese passenger-car and light-truck tyres and signaled anti-subsidy duties on Chinese plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Chinese-brand cars reached 10 % of EU new registrations in May, overtaking Japanese rivals.
Chinese PHEV registrations rose about 270 % in the first five months under the EU’s 10 % tariff.
German trade officials now back EU trade-defence tools as analysts cut the 2035 Chinese-brand market-share forecast to 15 % from 20 %.

Summary

Volkswagen Cuts Jobs

Volkswagen announced a plan to cut up to 100,000 jobs as Europe’s automotive manufacturing sector contracts sharply.
Europe’s share of global car production fell from one-quarter in 2019 to 18 % in 2025, while China’s rose to nearly 40 %.
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, links the shift to Germany’s export collapse to China and a renewed decline in manufacturing employment after a brief post-Covid recovery.

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EU Imposes Duties

EU imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese passenger-car and light-truck tyres and signaled anti-subsidy duties on Chinese plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Chinese-brand cars reached 10 % of EU new registrations in May, overtaking Japanese rivals.
Chinese PHEV registrations rose about 270 % in the first five months under the EU’s 10 % tariff.
German trade officials now back EU trade-defence tools as analysts cut the 2035 Chinese-brand market-share forecast to 15 % from 20 %.

1 / 2