BYD registered roughly 173,000 vehicles across Europe in the first half of 2026, up about 145% from a year earlier, according to registration data reported by AutoPunditz’s breakdown of the region’s Chinese-brand sales — and that growth has kept accelerating even though the European Union has spent nearly two years trying to slow Chinese EV imports down.

The tariffs didn’t stop the growth

The EU imposed extra duties of up to 35.3% on Chinese-built battery-electric vehicles back in October 2024, on top of the standard 10% import tariff, specifically to slow the flood of low-cost Chinese EVs into the European market. BYD’s registrations kept climbing anyway. Chinese-brand vehicles overall captured a record 14.2% of Western Europe’s battery-EV market in the first five months of 2026, according to Schmidt Automotive Research data reported by The Cool Down.

Across the broader EU new-car market — gas, hybrid, and electric combined — total registrations rose 5.7% in the first half of 2026, with battery-electric vehicles reaching a 20.7% share, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

Three ways BYD sidestepped the tariff wall

BYD’s growth despite tariffs comes down to three moves the company made well before the duties bit:

1. Building cars inside the EU. BYD began trial production of passenger cars at its new plant in Szeged, Hungary in late January 2026, with the facility eventually targeting roughly 200,000 vehicles a year, according to IAA Mobility’s coverage of the plant launch. Cars built inside the EU aren’t subject to the import tariff at all — a strategy BYD itself has described as “in Europe, for Europe,” per BYD’s own newsroom announcement of the factory.

2. A new pricing mechanism replacing the tariff. In January 2026, the European Commission began letting Chinese automakers submit “price undertakings” — minimum import prices and investment commitments — as an alternative to paying the tariff outright, according to Rest of World’s reporting on the policy shift. The arrangement lets BYD keep shipping cars from China at a floor price instead of eating a 35.3% duty on every unit.

3. Leaning on hybrids. The EU’s tariffs specifically target battery-electric vehicles. BYD has pushed plug-in hybrids like the Seal U into the European lineup alongside its EVs, sidestepping the BEV-specific duty on part of its model range.

What it signals for the U.S.

None of this workaround is available in the United States, where Chinese-made vehicles face steep tariffs and, separately, face restrictions tied to connected-vehicle software rules — effectively keeping BYD out of American showrooms for now. But the European experience is the clearest evidence yet that tariffs alone don’t stop a manufacturer with BYD’s cost structure and manufacturing flexibility; they just change how it gets around them. If BYD ever does find a legal path into the U.S. market, Europe’s last two years suggest tariffs by themselves won’t be enough to hold the line.