MADRID, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- New passenger car sales in Spain rose 14.6 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2025, thanks in large part to the rapid growth of Chinese automakers, according to the latest statistics released by Spain's Federation of Automotive Dealers Associations (Faconauto).

In August alone, car sales climbed 17.2 percent from a year earlier to 61,315 units. Faconauto has raised its forecast for total annual sales to 1.1 million vehicles.

"The contribution of Chinese brands this year is already clear: they have gone from 5 percent market share last year to 9 percent. That's very fast growth," said Raul Morales, Faconauto's director of communications, adding that Chinese brands have significantly supported overall market recovery.

The growth is closely linked to rising demand for electrified vehicles, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), whose market share has increased eight percentage points over the past year to 17.9 percent. Chinese automakers are strongly positioned in this segment, offering competitive products in terms of technology, quality and price, Morales said.

Market research firm Escalent reported that 47 percent of Europeans surveyed this year would consider buying a Chinese-made car, compared with 31 percent last year.

Meanwhile, data from the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac) show that China has become Spain's second-largest source of car imports, surpassing Japan and trailing only Germany.

Between January and August, Chinese automakers sold 59,234 vehicles in Spain, more than double the 24,823 sold in the same period last year. MG led with 29,197 sales, followed by BYD with 12,354 and Omoda with 7,344, Anfac data show. ■