Institutional forecast: Chinese automakers' sales in Europe will reach 2.7 million vehicles by 2030, with 37% produced locally.

At the 2026 Global Chinese Automotive Elite Joint Annual Meeting and the "China Embraces the World" International Automotive Industry Development Forum held on October 2930, Roland Berger partner Eric Esperance predicted that Chinese automakers' sales in Europe will reach 2.7 million vehicles by 2030, of which 37% will be produced locally, with capacity to be advanced through a dual path of greenfield investment and revitalizing idle European capacity. Regarding the overseas expansion layout of automotive supply chain enterprises, he suggested that Chinese automakers can adopt a step-by-step implementation path, such as forming joint ventures with core customers to co-build and gradually expanding their European local customer base, while reminding enterprises to squarely face the core differences between Chinese and European business cultures in decision-making pace, communication logic, and work philosophy. He emphasized that EU tariff policies and local content rules have constituted substantive structural pressure, and advancing deep localized operations is the only way for Chinese automakers to achieve large-scale development in the European market.