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The European car market is undergoing profound changes. A survey conducted by market research firm Escalent in five European countries (the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy) from May to July 2025 shows that Chinese carmakers are gradually winning the trust of European consumers, while American carmakers are losing market share.

Geopolitics weakens the image of American brands

According to the website of Autoplus, the most widely read car weekly in France, 47% of respondents said they were now willing to consider buying Chinese cars, compared with 31% last year. Meanwhile, the proportion of those considering buying American brands dropped from 51% to 44%.

The change in trust is also reflected: the proportion of respondents who trust Chinese cars rose from 12% to 19%; in contrast, trust in American products dropped from 31% to 24%.

KC Boyce, vice president of Escalent and an expert in powertrain innovation, pointed out that geopolitics is a key factor. The tariff policies implemented by the Trump administration and diplomatic frictions with Europe over Ukraine and Russia may be the reasons for the decline in the image of American brands.

Boyce said that among the countries involved in the survey, the US was the only one where trust had declined significantly.

Although brands like Cadillac and Dodge plan to return to the European market through electric vehicles， whether they can reverse the decline remains uncertain.

The 2025 Munich International Motor Show， which opened on the 9th， once again focused on electric vehicles. According to data from the International Energy Agency， global electric vehicle sales reached 17.5 million units last year (an increase of nearly 30%)， with China leading with over 11 million units； in Europe， Chinese brand electric vehicles have occupied nearly 9% of the market share， and their influence is still expanding.