FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - A rapprochement in the European-Chinese customs dispute brought Europe's car shares significant gains on Monday. Both sides want to negotiate with each other, as had already become known on Saturday. The EU Commission had previously published plans to impose additional punitive tariffs on Chinese e-cars if no other solution could be found with China. The EU accuses Beijing of unfairly subsidizing battery-powered models.

Around midday, the European car sector rose by 1.4 percent. Following the most recent setback, it continued to recover from the low reached in mid-June at the beginning of February and took first place in the market-wide Stoxx Europe 600. The technical chart for the sector barometer has now brightened somewhat and the downward trend since April has been broken. The price approached the much-noticed 200-day line again, which describes the long-term trend.

The shares of German car manufacturers recorded particularly significant price gains at the beginning of the week. BMW, Porsche AG, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz topped the DAX with gains of 1.7 to 3 percent. Among the French manufacturers, Stellantis rose by 1.5 percent, whereas the well-performing Renault shares only managed a minimal gain.

Analyst Gianmarco Migliavacca from the US investment company Neuberger Berman called the planned talks a "step in the right direction". He reminded us once again that Chinese retaliatory tariffs would primarily harm German manufacturers. These manufacturers have joint ventures in China that produce for the local market. However, they also exported premium vehicles to China across the board, which accounted for a large proportion of their revenue. At BMW, exports to China account for around 9 percent of revenue and at Mercedes-Benz and VW for up to 12 percent.

In contrast, volume producers such as Renault and Stellantis are comparatively less involved in China, the expert continued. They were even able to benefit from the announced EU tariffs on Chinese imports to Europe.

So far this year, most European car stocks have suffered price losses - the exceptions are Mercedes-Benz and even more so Renault. It remains to be seen whether negotiations between the EU and China can resolve the points of contention and bring about a lasting recovery in car share prices. Borsianer also referred to a skeptical "Handelsblatt" report. Citing Commission circles, it states that there are doubts about China's willingness to fundamentally change its subsidy policy./gl/ajx/mis