Leapmotor’s Irish boss says customers no longer ask whether Chinese cars are good enough. Instead, they’re deciding which Chinese brand to buy
Much of that growth is built on manufacturing systems that European executives are increasingly travelling to China to study.
Another clickbaity headline serving Chinese propaganda.
In the first 9 months 2026, Volkswagen sold 2.7 million cars in Europe (+0.5%). Stellantis sold 1.5 million cars (+4.2%).
Renault, Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, and Mercedes’ sales numbers are in the higher six-figure numbers between 500k and 900k.
Chery, Cheely, and BYD are the best Chinese brands in Europe, but are far behind.
From the article:
Leapmotor sold 87,214 cars in Europe in the first nine months 2026.
But the article tells you are story that is based exclusively about what the Leapmotor manager says.
This is what Jim Farley also says once or twice a year, depending how often he is invited in such a sponsored trip to China like Mr. McGrath.
Yes, it’s unrivalled. When a European [or other non-Chinese] carmaker wants to build in China, they need a Chinese partner that then holds the majority of the joint venture company. And, more importantly, when this Western carmaker then wants to build a new car for the domestic market, it must handover the technical specification and documentation for this car.
You can then be sure that a year or so later, there will be a car on Chinese roads that resemble very much the Westerner’s model.
Oh, yeah, subsidies - for producers, not consumers - come from all over in China and are much higher than in Europe. Chinese manufacturers pay their suppliers later (8-10 months after invoicing) while European pay after several weeks. And we must mention forced labour in China …