The Croatian car market in the first two months of 2026 seemingly presents a picture of stability with a slight growth of 1.3 percent compared to the first two months of last year, with a total of 8,809 registrations. However, beneath the surface dominated by fleets and perennial leaders like Škoda, an interesting change is taking place. While traditional European giants struggle to maintain market share through a hybrid transition, which serves as a sort of ‘safe haven’ for buyers unwilling to fully electrify, one trend can no longer be ignored. This is the arrival of Chinese manufacturers who are no longer a statistical error and are becoming a relevant market factor.
The ‘Chinese’ are Coming
The latest data reveals the scale of this offensive. Although the top of the rankings is still held by Škoda (with a 15.32 percent market share in February), Volkswagen, and Suzuki, the real drama unfolds in the middle and lower parts of the table. Chinese brands, which were recently on the margins, are now well positioned in the rankings, with the emergence of some completely new Chinese players in the market.
BYD leads this wave with 93 units sold in February (a total of 157 in 2026), holding almost 2 percent of the market and breathing down the necks of established names like Citroën and Mercedes. They are followed by MG (124), Omoda (105), Geely (80), and Jaecoo (64), who are slowly but surely climbing the rankings. It is also interesting to watch the emergence of the aforementioned new players such as the brands Forthing, Leapmotor, XPeng, and even the ultra-luxurious Zeekra, which recorded its first registrations this year.
Stagnation of EVs
And while the sales of fully electric vehicles at the overall level continue to stagnate at a modest 3.9 percent, the success of Chinese brands suggests that their strategy of good price-quality ratio, along with increasingly present hybrid options, but also traditional ones, hits exactly at the pain point of the Croatian buyer. At a time when new car prices are rising, loyalty to traditional brands is under great strain, and the first two months of this year may suggest that this could be the year when Chinese cars cease to be exotic and become a mainstream choice.
Following the sales results that confirm the increasingly strong influence of hybrid technology and Asian brands, key players in the domestic market reveal how strategies are adapting to the specific habits of Croatian buyers. While statistics show growth, dealers admit that the path to trust is paved with caution, calculations with incentives, and pragmatic choices of drive.
Auto Croatia: Hybrid as a Safe Haven
For Šimo Klanac, a member of the Management Board for vehicle sales at Auto Croatia Automobili, the market shift towards hybrids is not surprising. Otherwise, Auto Croatia offers BYD and the Dongfeng group through its portfolio, and during 2025, they sold about 600 vehicles of these brands, with the largest share achieved by the Forthing brand. This year, they have already launched five new BYD models with an emphasis on hybrid technology, and regarding fully electric vehicles, Klanac points out that interest in them in Croatia remains a hostage to state policy.
– The fact is that interest in fully electric vehicles in Croatia still largely depends on state incentives that are most often announced once a year, so a large part of buyers waits for that moment to obtain a subsidy and does not want to miss that amount.
At the same time, Klanac adds, the development of charging infrastructure, especially fast chargers, remains relatively slow, particularly outside larger urban centers.
– Because of this, an increasing number of buyers recognize the practicality of hybrid solutions. Plug-in and other forms of hybrid vehicles offer flexibility for everyday use. They allow driving on electric power in the city, with the security of a conventional drive on longer routes, while also bringing a positive environmental impact. It is precisely because of this combination of practicality and efficiency that hybrids currently have a very strong market potential, Klanac explains.
Geely the Best-Selling in 2025
On the other hand, Geely finished 2025 as the best-selling Chinese brand in Croatia with 895 vehicles sold and a market share of 1.3 percent. However, almost all sales in 2025 were related to internal combustion engines, reflecting the current preferences of the Croatian market. Geely confirms that it was precisely this pragmatism, packaged in rich equipment, that was key to their status as the best-selling Chinese brand last year. However, although it may seem so, Geely has not given up on electrification, stating that they plan to strengthen their positioning in the segment of electrified vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and fully electric models, and that the expansion of the EV offer will be timed according to the development of infrastructure, incentive measures, and regulatory frameworks.
Although the public still often perceives them as a typical Chinese brand, Geely emphasizes its transformation into a global group. Their connection with the European automotive industry, from ownership of Volvo and Lotus to strategic collaborations with Daimler, is the main argument they use to break the skepticism of domestic buyers.
Private Buyers in Focus
While market leaders like Škoda and Volkswagen draw a large part of their volume from generous corporate fleets, Geely and the groups represented by Auto Croatia (BYD, Dongfeng – Forthing, Seres, DFSK) have focused on private buyers and micro and small enterprises.
Geely representatives say that their customers often highlight a strong price-to-equipment ratio.
– For a comparable amount, they receive a higher level of standard equipment than with many competitors, especially in the popular SUV segment. Additional value comes from technological cooperation and joint development within the group, especially in the areas of safety, advanced driver assistance systems, digital platforms, and innovations, they state from Geely.
Their response to the hybrid offensive is the freshly launched Starray EM-i, which, with a price of 29,990 euros, aims to become the most affordable D-SUV with plug-in hybrid technology on the market.
A similar ‘democratization’ strategy of advanced technology is being implemented by Auto Croatia. According to Šimo Klanac, their typical BYD customer is technologically aware and digitally oriented, but still very sensitive to the final amount on the bill.
Myth of Tariffs and Reality of Leasing
However, the path to the mass market is not without obstacles. EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, which average around 20 percent, have become an unavoidable factor in price formation. Auto Croatia admits that they had to absorb part of that cost to remain competitive, while part inevitably passed on to customers.
Interestingly, however, financial institutions view these ‘newcomers’ differently. The fear of low residual value, which usually accompanies new brands, is slowly disappearing, so banks and leasing companies today treat Geely and BYD equally with established European and Korean brands. Also, as Klanac notes, ‘this is also seen in the used car segment, where Chinese models are becoming increasingly competitive, which positively affects the estimated future values of vehicles that leasing companies take into account when financing.’
What the Rest of the Year Brings
If the first two months were a warm-up, the rest of the year brings a real flood of novelties. Auto Croatia is preparing two new models from the Dongfeng group (a sedan and an SUV) for the second quarter, while Geely plans to hit the affordable electromobility segment with the EX2 model in the fourth quarter. The success of Chinese manufacturers in the first two months is not the result of ‘aggressive marketing’, but rather precise targeting of the needs of buyers who want a technologically advanced car but are not willing to be held hostage by unfinished charging infrastructure or capricious state incentives. If this trend continues, by the end of the year we will not be talking about the ‘arrival of the Chinese’, but about a new order in which the origin of the brand has become secondary to the invested-return ratio.
