Überblick: Alle China-Autos und -Marken in Deutschland | Ausfahrt.tv Show Spezial s01e20

Jaecoo Omoda Zeekr Forthing BAW hand on heart. For even half of these names, could you tell whether that's a car, a martial art or a new piece of IKEA furniture?

Welcome to a new reality on German roads.

In recent years we've gained so many new Chinese brands that even we journalists and influencers are slowly losing track. So how must you feel?

track. So how must you feel?

And a warm welcome to a special of the Ausfahrt.tv Show, in which I'd like to bring you a little closer to our Chinese brands.

But first, a small disclaimer.

Of course, as a great carmaking nation we should back products made in Germany to keep our economy alive.

On the other hand, I see this trend that the German car industry likes to socialize its losses while its profits get privatized instead.

And when the new ID.Polo and ID.Cross are built in Spain and the new electric C-Class in Hungary, then I can't blame anyone for looking at their own wallet and thinking: Spain, Hungary, China — I just want to get from A to B.

And I understand anyone who says: no Chinese car in my driveway. Whether politically, human-rights or economically motivated. I just want to show you who they are.

economically motivated. I just want to show you who they are.

And what you make of it is, of course, your business.

So who are they? Today I'll try to bring a little order to this jumble. If you define it very narrowly, Volvo, with

jumble. If you define it very narrowly, Volvo, with almost 60,000 new registrations in 2025, is the most successful Chinese brand in Germany.

Volvo is 78.7% owned by China's Geely Group, but still builds largely in Sweden.

So it's worth a look at which Chinese groups are now present in Germany with which brands and products.

We also have to throw the assumption overboard that we, as a die-hard carmaking nation, are the number 1 stop for the Chinese in Europe.

Zeekr first supplied Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway.

The first cars only reached us in March of this year.

GAC also starts in Europe in Norway, Poland and Portugal.

Germany's turn comes in 2027 at the earliest.

That makes sense and doesn't have to bruise our collective ego. In a small market you gain a foothold faster, in a market without domestic carmakers even more so.

I do love charts. First, a size comparison between Europe and China. Then the cities in Europe with more than 1.5 million inhabitants compared to the cities in China with more than 5 million inhabitants. Plus a few numbers to play with.

In Germany we have around 84 million inhabitants.

Europe is estimated at 745 million.

And China has almost twice as many: 1.41 billion people. And when you consider that China has 17 times as

people. And when you consider that China has 17 times as many people as Germany, it's no surprise that almost 12 times as many cars were sold there last year. 34.4 million in China, 2.9 million in Germany.

year. 34.4 million in China, 2.9 million in Germany.

BYD leads China's carmaker ranking with 4.6 million units worldwide. Here they started with the BYD brand and

worldwide. Here they started with the BYD brand and have just launched their premium brand Denza.

Their luxury brand Yangwang is waiting in the wings.

BYD currently has 200 dealers and wants to add another 150 by the end of the year. BYD's current portfolio includes the electric cars Dolphin Surf, Dolphin, Atto 2, Atto 3 Ivo, Seal, Sealion 7 and Tang. Plus four plug-in hybrid models:

the Dolphin G DM-i, the Atto 2 DM-i and the Seal 6 DM-i Touring and the Seal U DM-i.

Denza starts with the shooting brake Z9 GT, the van D9 — the sporty Z models come later — and the SUV Bao 5.

SAIC is number 2 in China.

A Chinese state-owned group based in Shanghai that in 2025 stood for 4.5 million vehicles.

In Germany we know the brands MG Motor and Maxus.

MG has 180 dealers in Germany, Maxus around 130.

MG Motor currently offers 5 electric cars: the MG4, the MG4 Urban, the MG S5, the MG S6 and the MG Cyberster.

Add two PHEVs, the MG HS and the MGS 9, plus three full hybrids: MG3 Hybrid Plus, MG ZS Hybrid Plus and MG HS Hybrid Plus. And two petrol cars as well, the MG3 and the MG ZS. Maxus is out in the commercial segment with four

electric vans.

There are also two combustion ones.

The four electric ones are the eDeliver 3, 5, 7 and 9, with the 7 and 9 also available without the e, so with combustion.

Plus the electric pickup eTerron 9 and the diesel pickup T60 Max. The brands of the Geely Holding, which stands for

T60 Max. The brands of the Geely Holding, which stands for 4.1 million vehicles in 2025, are far more familiar to us.

After all, in Europe they bought or took stakes in Volvo, Lotus and Smart.

Geely as a brand is just launching here.

The in-house brands Polestar, Lynk & Co, LEVC and Zeekr have already arrived. Zeekr offers the all-electric models 001, X,

arrived. Zeekr offers the all-electric models 001, X, 7X and 7GT. Polestar as a new brand got off to a good start with the Polestar 2, but now its registration numbers are flagging. On offer are the four all-electric models Polestar 2, Polestar 3, Polestar 4 and Polestar 5.

Smart's registration numbers are also rather weak, whether Smart hashtag 1, Smart hashtag 3 or Smart hashtag 5.

Lynk & Co's registration numbers aren't exactly convincing either. Alongside the plug-in hybrids 01 and 08, they also offer a fully electric car, the 02.

Geely as a brand comes with the electric EX5 and the PHEV Starray.

Some may know Changan as Mazda's partner in the production of the Mazda 6e and the Mazda CX-6e.

They're starting their European launch with the brands Deepal and Avatr right now. In 2025 the group, China's number 4, stood for almost 3

right now. In 2025 the group, China's number 4, stood for almost 3 million vehicles. Changan currently offers three models, including

million vehicles. Changan currently offers three models, including the two all-electric SUVs Deepal S05 and Deepal S07, with the Deepal S05 also available as a plug-in hybrid.

Number 5 in China is called Chery.

The group has started the brands Omoda and Jaecoo here. The rollout of the Chery brand is underway.

here. The rollout of the Chery brand is underway.

They produced 2.8 million vehicles in 2025.

Starting in 2026, Chery is still at the beginning with its dealer network. Right now it's just under 30 dealers for Omoda and

network. Right now it's just under 30 dealers for Omoda and Jaecoo. Whether they will also sell the Chery brand is currently

Jaecoo. Whether they will also sell the Chery brand is currently still unclear. Omoda and Jaecoo each start with one

still unclear. Omoda and Jaecoo each start with one all-electric and one plug-in hybrid SUV: Omoda 5 and Omoda 9 PHEV plus Jaecoo 5 and Jaecoo 7 PHEV.

Chery has also already invited the press so they could get a first impression of the new vehicles.

There's the SUV Tiggo 7, as petrol, hybrid and PHEV, and the Tiggo 9, which comes only as a PHEV.

Right, a short ad break so you can catch your breath.

Let's see what my partner LeasingMarkt.de, Germany's

number 1 in car leasing, currently asks for leasing a quintessentially German car: the Golf.

VW is a German maker, and the Golf is still built in Wolfsburg.

Let's see what the cheapest Golf is supposed to cost. 123 euros — okay, that's commercial.

cost. 123 euros — okay, that's commercial.

Let's filter for private: 240 euros.

A 150 hp petrol in the sporty R-Line.

At 36 months and 20,000 kilometers a year it's 292 euros. Take your time on the detail page to check the equipment and

292 euros. Take your time on the detail page to check the equipment and the basic data. But don't forget to scroll all the way down to see what one-off costs are still coming your way. Here it's another 1,700 euros in delivery fees on

your way. Here it's another 1,700 euros in delivery fees on top. If the leasing rate works for you, confirm it, then you just

top. If the leasing rate works for you, confirm it, then you just enter your basic details so the dealer can send you your offer, free and with no obligation.

Or check out the Deals — those are daily leasing bargains. Thanks for following this consumer info so patiently

bargains. Thanks for following this consumer info so patiently — and on we go with the Chinese.

And because all these numbers are such fun for me: in the top 10 ranking of carmakers worldwide, BYD sits at number 6 this year, SAIC at number 7 and Geely at number 9.

In China the brand ranking reads almost Western, from 1 to 10.

BYD Geely VW Toyota Wuling, Changan, Chery, Honda, Tesla and Audi.

Let's carry straight on with the small brands.

Great Wall Motors has introduced the brands Ora, Wey and Haval in Germany. Great Wall Motors stands

in Germany. Great Wall Motors stands for 1.3 million vehicles in 2025.

Interesting here: the cars are brought to Germany via the same importer as Mitsubishi and can also use parts of the dealer network. Under the brand Ora, Great Wall Motors

dealer network. Under the brand Ora, Great Wall Motors offers the 03 and the 5. As Haval the two SUVs Jolion Pro and H6, and as Wey the plug-in hybrid SUV 05.

Leapmotor has a special role here in Germany, because they founded a joint venture with the Stellantis Group, so they can be sold and serviced via the existing dealer network.

Just not by all of them.

Early this year the talk was of 800 dealers in Europe, of which 100 in Germany. Leapmotor currently sells five models: the T03, the B03X, the B05, the B10 and the C10, with the last two also offered as plug-in hybrids. XPENG recently shone in China with 120% growth,

hybrids. XPENG recently shone in China with 120% growth, logging 429,000 units, but is hyped as a new brand, not least thanks to its AI-driven assistance systems. You can currently buy at 70 dealers in Germany; by year's end it's meant to be 110 dealers.

XPENG currently has five all-electric models on offer.

The SUVs L03, G6 and G9, the sedan P7 Plus and the van X9.

NIO did make a strong entrance in Germany and just drew attention with its battery swap stations.

But in today's registration numbers they hardly matter anymore.

And their sub-brand Firefly comes with an appealing design, but no impact on our market so far.

They produced 326,000 units in China in 2025 and stayed below expectations — their own, that is.

NIO currently offers five models in Germany, all battery electric: the ET5 as sedan and wagon, the ET7 as sedan and the three SUVs EL6, EL7 and EL8.

The NIO Firefly is said to still come in 2026. And then we have a few brands that play a rather minor role in our registration numbers, since they're offered by smaller importers like Indimo, with a solid 220 resellers, for one brand or another in Germany.

FAW, Dongfeng, Seres, BAIC, Foton and BAW.

As for the models, I'll let you google those yourselves.

The best-known of the small ones right now is, in my view, the BAW 212, a mix between the G-Class and the Defender with a diesel engine. Now, one more for you, not least a bit as a warning. The Aiways U5 had its world premiere in 2018 in China. In Europe it was introduced in 2020.

in China. In Europe it was introduced in 2020.

On the Chinese market the brand never played a serious role, really produced only for Europe.

In summer 2023 came the end of production and with it, in effect, of the brand. Today Aiways buyers in Germany are stuck with spare-parts problems. Not a purely Chinese problem, of course, if you think of Fisker, but maybe still a sign that you should look a little at a brand's background before buying a Chinese car.

Well, and because a bit of panic is still going around, the fact check. You read numbers like: BYD already has 3.8% market share.

fact check. You read numbers like: BYD already has 3.8% market share.

Sounds threatening, but it's misread.

That's 3.8% of the EV market, not of the total market.

Across all drivetrains BYD stands at 1.77%, MG at 1.09%. And all Chinese-owned brands combined,

1.09%. And all Chinese-owned brands combined, Volvo and co. included, at a good 6%.

Not 9, not 10 — 6. But what really impresses is the pace.

Volvo, our number 1 of the Chinese, and BYD were still 2.5 to 1 apart last year. In the first half of 2026: Volvo 26,278 vehicles, BYD 26,252 vehicles. Lead: 26 cars. 26.

26,252 vehicles. Lead: 26 cars. 26.

BYD has practically caught up in a year and a half.

That's how fast it goes. In the first half of 2026, BYD pushed into the top 20 here in Germany.

Just barely ahead of Mazda. Okay, if you want to count Volvo as Chinese, they're ahead of BYD at number 17.

And it doesn't stop. Next year GAC and Xiaomi join in.

It stays exciting. Still, panic would be entirely the wrong reflex.

Not every Chinese brand is a juggernaut.

GAC, arriving now, is in deep crisis at home.

Billions in losses. Great Wall Motors missed its own annual target by two thirds. They put their pants on one leg at a time too.

two thirds. They put their pants on one leg at a time too.

The honest verdict: the Chinese are here.

They're settling in. One of them — Volvo — you've long since accepted, and you even love it.

We should keep an eye on the problems. But we're allowed to get used to them.

The question is long no more whether they'll stay, but only which of these many brands will ultimately prevail for good. I look forward to your comments and I hope you

for good. I look forward to your comments and I hope you enjoyed this special edition, the Special, too.

If you'd like to send me something: all links to the show, further information and everything that helped me in my research can be found via the link to our homepage in the video description. Thank you for watching, and I'll sign off

video description. Thank you for watching, and I'll sign off as always. Stay healthy out there.

as always. Stay healthy out there.

Bye for now. Your Jan.