MUNICH, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Chinese car makers are

making inroads in Europe and executives say they are in the

region to stay, underscoring a key reversal as brands from BYD

to SAIC take market share on a continent

where they once struggled to make sales.

At this week's IAA Mobility car show in Munich, China's auto

firms - facing a tough price war at home - were increasingly

bullish about their plans for Europe, dominated still by local

brands such as Volkswagen and Renault.

"Everything we do starts with the needs of European users,"

said GAC's president of international operations Wei

Haigang as the Chinese automaker showed off the Aion V electric

SUV that will start sales in Poland, Portugal and Finland this

month, and the Aion UT set to go on sale in Europe next year.

"That means being in Europe, for Europe," Haigang added,

including "accelerating steps towards localized production."

Chinese luxury brand Hongqi and Chery, China's

biggest car exporter for more than 20 years, repeated the same

"in Europe, for Europe" refrain in their press events - language

that echoed that more commonly heard by German carmakers in

China, the world's top market where competition is heating.

Volkswagen's - which has an "in China, for China"

strategy - is battling to reverse a 24% drop in sales in China

between 2020 and 2024. Rival German brands Mercedes-Benz

and BMW are also struggling.

Chinese brands meanwhile are on the rise in Europe.

According to JATO Dynamics, Chinese brands almost doubled

year-on-year their European market share to 4.8% in

January-July.

McKinsey estimate that within a decade, Chinese automakers

could command a share equal to what Japanese and Korean

automakers enjoy now, of 14% and 9%, respectively.

The rush of Chinese brands portends a likely intense fight

for market share. As Chinese automakers are effectively shut out

of the United States, the world's third-largest car market has

taken on greater importance in their expansion plans.

This year's Munich car show has seen the return of China's

top automaker BYD, but also a clutch of new Chinese companies -

including GAC, Changan, Aito, Hongqi - all vying for market

share outside China where a long EV price war has been killing

automakers' profits.

"We are in Europe to stay," BYD's No. 2 executive Stella Li

said when declaring that BYD's plant in Hungary will launch

production by the end of the year.

'SAME PLAYBOOK AS THE GERMANS'

Almost every press event at the Munich show involving a

Chinese automaker included more than one assertion of their

European qualifications.

"They're using the same playbook as the Germans in China,"

said Tu Le, founder of consultancy Sino Auto Insights.

Xpeng ( XPEV ) vice chairman Brian Gu emphasized the fact

that the EV maker is opening a research and development centre

in Munich this week, showing the company is "focused on really

building for the long-term future with more local investments."

During a video opening a press conference to announce it

will launch 15 models in Europe by 2028, Hongqi, a unit of

state-owned automaker FAW, intoned that the luxury brand's cars

are "crafted for Europe, committed to Europe."

When presenting a new EV, the EHS5, FAW's global design

chief Giles Taylor stressed that Hongqi has had an R&D centre in

Europe for seven years, "focused on developing cars that will

take on the European brief and reach out to European customers."

But Pedro Pacheco, vice president of research at consultancy

Gartner, said that so far Chinese automakers are just tweaking

Chinese models to meet European tastes.

Toyota's sales in Europe did not take off until it launched

the Yaris, specifically designed for the European market, in

1997.

If China's automakers want major growth in Europe, they will

need to follow examples and invest in models designed with

European drivers in mind.

"Where is that differentiation to suit the taste of the

European consumer?" Pacheco added. "That's what is missing."