(Reuters) -Chinese carmakers including BYD and Chery are selling more plugin-hybrids in the European Union to avoid import tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, data released on Friday showed.

The two brands sold 3,269 and 757 plugin-hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), respectively, in the bloc in March, up from near zero sales in July 2024 when provisional tariffs were first introduced, research firm Rho Motion said in a report.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

EU tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese-built battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) came into full effect in November to prevent a flood of cheap cars.

Facing disruption from U.S. tariffs, the EU and China are negotiating a relaxation of the European levies.

But in the meantime, EV makers such as BYD and Leapmotor have adjusted their European strategy to adapt to the EU tariffs and the slower-than-expected mass adoption of BEVs in Europe.

On Tuesday, BYD said it would introduce two more PHEV models in Germany this year.

BY THE NUMBERS

BYD pays a 27.5% tariff on BEVs it sells in the EU, and 10% for PHEVs. That means paying 10,257 euros ($11,656) for each Atto 3 BEV it sells in Germany, the report said. For the Seal U PHEV, it pays 3,999 euros.

The group's March BEV sales in the EU more than doubled to 4,633 from March 2024, but its PHEV sales went from none to 3,269.

Chery, which also pays a baseline 10% tariff and an additional 21.3% levy on BEVs, sold 310 BEVs and 757 PHEVs.

SAIC faces the highest BEV tariff of 35.3%. But it has not scaled up PHEV sales as much, the report said.

QUOTE

"It was only a matter of time before manufacturers found a backdoor to the market," said Didi Bostock, Membership Editor for Rho Motion.

"And now they have, through hybrids."

($1 = 0.8800 euros)