One Third Of The Car Brands At The 2026 Paris Auto Show Are Chinese

The Paris Motor Show kicks off on October 12 in France with a very different dynamic.
20 of the 60 brands on display are Chinese, double the number at the previous show.
European automakers are on a product offensive to defend their shrinking market share.

Europe’s biggest auto show gets underway in Paris, France, next week, but if any gearhead visitor is returning after a few years away, there’s a good chance they won’t recognize many of the cars or the brand names on their trunks.

Around 60 of the 100 exhibitors with stands at this year’s staging of the biennial Paris Motor Show are automakers. But a record 20 of them, fully one third, are from China, Reuters reports. That stat alone is kind of crazy, but here’s one that’s even wilder. There were only 10 Chinese brands at the last Paris event in 2024. China has already had a huge impact on the European auto industry, and the impact is growing rapidly.

Some of those brands aren’t unfamiliar to European car buyers. BYD, Geely, Chery, Jaecoo and Leapmotor are already taking a big bite of market share across the continent, where Chinese cars now account for more than 10 percent of all new car sales.

But they’ll be joined this time by a host of other brands that some showgoers might never have heard of. Li Auto, Aito, Aion, 212, and several others are setting up shop in Europe and using the Paris expo as a jumping-off point.

EVs, But Also Hybrids

One Third Of The Car Brands At The 2026 Paris Auto Show Are Chinese

Not all of the cars these brands are bringing to Paris are EVs. After the EU implemented anti-subsidy tariffs of up to 35 percent on Chinese electric cars landing in Europe, China’s auto industry began pushing hybrids. They’re currently exempt from the tariffs, and are only subject to ordinary 10 percent import duty, though the EU is now working on new legislation to plug the loophole.

European automakers aren’t ready to roll over just yet, however. They’re bringing multiple debuts of their own to Paris, including the new Audi A2 e-tron (below), Skoda Peaq, Dacia Striker, and Fiat Grizzly production models. And concepts like the Renault E-Space and Citroën 2CV hint that there’s plenty more metal to come in the next few years.

But one car brand you won’t see there is BMW. Despite having a new 3 Series, iX4 and X5 to show off, it opted not to attend.