The American automotive market recently got good news about record-high prices on new vehicle sales and record sales of electric vehicles. The good news could be short-lived with a new survey showing America falling behind China in the automotive sector.
What Happened: For years, the United States has been the dominant player in the automotive sector. That has since been eclipsed by China, which leads the world in annual vehicle production and sales.
While China's dominance has mainly come due to sales in its own country, automotive companies in the country are making strides in exports to Europe and elsewhere. Those efforts appear to be paying off.
New data from market research firm Escalent shows that people in Europe are more likely to consider buying a vehicle from China than from the United States, as reported by InsideEVs.
The survey asked consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom their preferences on automobiles.
Europeans surveyed are more likely to consider a Chinese car over an American car by a 47% to 44% margin. The survey results mark impressive gains for Chinese automotive companies, with the same survey in 2024 showing 31% of consumers would consider Chinese cars, while 51% would consider buying an American vehicle.
While trust in Chinese brands is still significantly below 50% in the survey, the confidence rose to 19% in this year's survey, up from 12% in 2024. For American cars, consumers said they have 24% trust in the brands, down from 31% in 2024.
The survey is not officially completed, with full results coming later this year.
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Why It's Important: One item likely impacting the survey is the lower number of cheap electric vehicles offered by American companies in Europe, which has a higher market share for EVs than the United States.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has suffered sales declines in parts of Europe, along with declining market share in the United States. The company has suffered brand damage in Europe thanks to comments made by CEO Elon Musk, and also faces new competition from Chinese companies.
Chinese EV company BYD (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) has been aggressive in its expansion into Europe and recently posted triple-digit gains with the brand adopting well in multiple countries.
Brands from within the continent have chiefly dominated the European automotive market. While U.S. automakers have also had success with some models, the survey suggests that China could now be the go-to for imports when looking at new vehicles based on the selection of EV models and prices.
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