The rapid expansion of Chinese brands is no longer just transforming the vehicle sales market; it is beginning to have a direct impact on the activity of Spanish repair shops. According to the latest industry data, Chinese manufacturers registered 75,024 passenger cars in Spain during the first half of 2026, reaching a market share of 12.3%. In other words, one in ten new cars sold in our country now belongs to a Chinese brand, with MG, BYD, and Omoda & Jaecoo accounting for the lion’s share of that growth.
That shift has already reached the aftersales market as well. Just three years ago it was uncommon for a Spanish workshop to need to source a replacement part for an MG, a BYD, or an Omoda. Today, those inquiries are part of the daily work of thousands of repair professionals.
According to an analysis by Recomotor, the leading distributor of salvaged parts for workshops and automotive professionals, inquiries related to vehicles from Chinese brands have risen 214% over the past twelve months and now account for 9.4% of the total parts requests managed by the company. Just two years ago, that share did not reach 3%.
“The growth of these brands is no longer merely reflected in registrations. We are starting to see it clearly in the workshops. Not long ago inquiries about manufacturers such as MG or BYD were something sporadic, and today they are part of the routine work for many professionals. It is a logical shift because aftersales always tends to reflect market evolution a few years later,” say the experts at Recomotor.
The Challenge Is Being Ready to Repair Them
From Recomotor, they emphasize that the increase in inquiries does not mean that vehicles from Chinese manufacturers have a higher failure rate than others. The explanation is much simpler: more vehicles from these brands are circulating, and they are entering their early maintenance, repair, and component replacement cycles.
However, this growth is indeed forcing the entire aftersales value chain to adapt to a new reality. The addition of new manufacturers requires expanding catalogs, adding references, strengthening logistics, and making it easier for workshops to access parts within competitive timelines.
“The real challenge isn’t the vehicle’s reliability. The challenge is for a workshop to locate a part with the same speed for a newly established brand as for a manufacturer with decades of presence in Spain,” explain the experts at the Catalan startup. According to Recomotor’s estimates, currently 78% of parts requested for Chinese brands can be located in less than 48 hours, while 17% require between three and five days. Only 5% of requests exceed a week due to the lower availability of certain references.
The Most In-Demand Brands
The market evolution is also reflected in the volume of requests received by Recomotor. Over the last year, inquiries for parts for Chinese manufacturers have shown especially significant growth among the brands that lead registrations in Spain.
The rise in inquiries by brand over the last year, according to the Catalan company’s data, is MG (+286%); BYD (+231%); Omoda (+198%); Jaecoo (+171%); and Leapmotor (+146%).
The transformation is also evident in the types of components workshops are requesting. Against the mechanical repairs that dominated a decade ago, electronics and technological systems are taking on a growing role. According to Recomotor’s provisional data, the inquiries that have risen the most over the last year correspond to LED headlights (+255%); mirrors (+223%); ADAS cameras and sensors (+196%); electronic control units (+184%); and front bumpers (+162%).
“The car is changing very rapidly. Today, workshops work with much more digitized vehicles, which implies new diagnostic needs as well as the availability of components. Electronics already carries a very significant weight in the sector’s daily activity,” say Recomotor.
The consolidation of Chinese brands is accelerating the adaptation of Spain’s replacement parts market. To respond to this growth, Recomotor has increased the available references for these manufacturers by 73% over the last two years and has reinforced its logistics capacity to serve a network of more than 11,500 collaborating workshops.
For the Catalan startup’s experts, the situation recalls the arrival of the first Korean brands to the Spanish market, though with one fundamental difference: “Back then the change was gradual and took more than a decade. Now everything is happening much faster. Registrations came first, and now the first real repair needs are beginning to arrive. Our goal is to anticipate that evolution so that any workshop can find the replacement it needs with the same speed, regardless of the vehicle’s brand.”
