The cost of producing an electric vehicle in China is 10,000 euros lower than in Europe, warned the head of the French auto parts supplier Forvia Patrick Koller, estimating that Europe will not be able to stop cheap Chinese imports.

Europe is relatively open to importing vehicles from China, and European regulators consider them very safe, according to Reuters.

European consumers want a cheap electric vehicle, and China produces good vehicles, the head of the French company pointed out, adding that this problem is “more dangerous” for Europe than for the US, which has limited the share of Chinese manufacturers in the domestic market with high tariffs.

In Europe, the average price of electric cars increased from almost 49,000 euros in 2015 to almost 56,000 euros, and in the USA from 53,000 to 65,000 euros, according to research by JATO Dynamics.

In China, in the same period, it fell from almost 67,000 to 32,000 euros, and electric cars are now cheaper than gasoline cars, according to data from the consulting company.

Chinese companies produce cheaper electric vehicles thanks to lower labor, research and development costs and lower capital expenditure compared to European competition.

According to French car consultancy Inovev, China has a roughly 5.8 percent share of the European electric vehicle market, which will grow strongly in the coming years as Chinese brands produce increasingly cheaper models.

Forvia is a French multinational manufacturer of automotive parts, created by the merger of the French Faurecia and the German Hella. His clients are numerous Chinese car manufacturers, including BYD, but also Volkswagen, Daimler, Toyota and Tesla.