China’s exports of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to the European Union – which are not currently subject to additional tariffs – surged in the first two months of this year, while shipments of pure passenger electric vehicles (EVs) slowed amid trade barriers that have been refortified since last year.
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And if PHEV exports continue to climb, analysts say, hybrids could similarly find themselves in the tariff crosshairs.
China shipped 50,383 units of passenger EVs to the EU in the first two months of the year, a year-on-year decline of one-third, according to the latest detailed customs data.
The decline aligns with a broader downward trend that began in October after the EU raised tariffs on Chinese-made EVs to as high as 45 per cent.
In contrast, exports of China’s PHEVs to the EU skyrocketed in the two-month period by 892 per cent, year on year, to 25,903 units.
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The value of China’s PHEV exports to the EU soared 561 per cent, year on year, to US$501.6 million – nearly half the value of its EV exports to the region.