As Chinese cars increasingly enter the European market, a burning topic emerges: their repairability. Motorists are questioning: will they be as easy to repair as their European counterparts? The answer is not as simple as it seems, as repairability is more related to design choices than to the nationality of the manufacturer.
A Market in Full Transformation
The rapid arrival of Chinese manufacturers in the European market raises many questions. Beyond price or performance, one question often arises among motorists: will these cars be repairable in the long run? In 2023, nearly one in three new cars registered in Europe already came from outside the European Union, including about 670,000 Chinese vehicles. Their market share has increased from about 1% in 2020 to nearly 7% in 2024. By 2035, projections estimate that vehicles from new manufacturers could represent nearly 19 million cars on the road in Europe, or about 8% of the fleet.
These figures reveal a paradigm shift. New cars sometimes give the impression of being difficult, if not impossible, to repair. However, behind this received idea, the reality is more nuanced. Repairability depends less on the origin of the brands than on their design choices, access to parts, and the organization of after-sales service in Europe.
Design, batteries, parts, and after-sales service, a new study on repairability counters some ideas about Chinese cars. © Leapmotor
Modern Complexity: A Challenge for All
The concern is not unfounded. Recent cars, whether European or Chinese, have become more complex and electronic. Minor collisions turned into heavy repairs, extended parts delivery times, vehicles declared economically irreparable: we read here and there testimonials from motorists who have already experienced repairs that were more costly than expected.
The conclusions of a recent analysis conducted by the foresight firm Via ID invite us to nuance these received ideas. The repairability of a vehicle does not directly depend on the nationality of the manufacturer, but on very specific industrial choices: vehicle architecture, modularity of components, availability of parts, access to data and software tools. Indeed, the traction battery alone represents 30 to 40% of the value of an electric vehicle, while the body-chassis structure accounts for 20 to 30% of production costs.
Some highly integrated design choices can thus reduce overall repairability by nearly a third, regardless of the brand or country of origin. According to Via ID’s analysis, large structural parts from gigacasting can reduce the overall repairability of a vehicle by nearly 30% when no partial repair or segmented replacement solution is planned from the design stage.
Crucial Design Choices
Paradoxically, some Chinese manufacturers have early integrated the lifecycle question into their strategy. In China, the repair and recycling sector is highly structured and regulated by the state. The battery is considered an asset to be valued, repaired, or recycled, rather than just a component to be completely replaced. Groups like BYD or SAIC Motor (the parent company of MG) thus master the entire chain, from design to recycling. This integration can, in some aspects, facilitate end-of-life management or material recovery, sometimes more effectively than European manufacturers dependent on multiple suppliers.
The gigacasting process allows replacing 70 to 100 parts with a single pressure-molded piece. It reduces weight, energy consumption, but what about repairability? © Volvo
Challenges in Europe: A Complex Ecosystem
The main issue is therefore not so much the initial design of Chinese cars as their integration into the European ecosystem. A car may be technically repairable but become irreparable in practice if the conditions are not met. The study highlights three determining points for the motorist.
- First, the availability of spare parts and their cost.
- Next, access to software and data, now essential for diagnosing or repairing a modern vehicle.
- Finally, the training and equipment of repair networks.
Today, a battery repair can cost from about 1,200 euros when it involves intervening on a cell or module, up to 7,000 euros for a heavier refurbishment, and reach 30,000 euros in the case of a complete replacement. Significant gaps that show how much repairability depends more on design and the organization of after-sales service than on the technology itself.
A Key Issue for Tomorrow’s Buyers
For motorists, the question is therefore not whether a car is Chinese or European, but whether it is designed to be repaired, maintained, and followed in the long term. At equivalent prices, repairability becomes a criterion as important as range, consumption, or equipment.
In the medium term, the role of European regulation will be central. And several levers will influence the market, whether it be transparency requirements, access to data, availability of parts, or future repairability ratings. Without this framework, the risk is not the arrival of Chinese cars, but a technological acceleration faster than the market’s ability to repair and maintain vehicles.
In summary, Chinese cars are neither more nor less repairable by nature than European ones. The difference will be in the manufacturers’ ability to play the after-sales game in Europe, hoping that they do not disappear as quickly as they arrived. And in the willingness of public authorities to impose clear rules. For the buyer, that is where the true durability of their car will be at stake.
