Salone Auto Torino runs September 11 through 13 across Piazza Castello and the Giardini Reali, in the middle of the city. There is no hall and no turnstile. The cars sit outdoors on gravel and grass, the public walks in from nine in the morning until seven at night, and it costs nothing.
The organizers put attendance at each of the last two editions above 500,000. That is a bigger crowd than most American auto shows draw, gathered in the city where Fiat was born and where Giorgetto Giugiaro drew the Golf.
You can also drive the cars. Fourteen brands are running free public test drives out of the Royal Gardens, and nine of them are Chinese. Anyone who wanders past can take a Zeekr, a Hongqi or a Lynk & Co out into Turin traffic without paying for a ticket first.
What has changed about the guest list is the story.
Key Takeaways
- September 11 to 13, free, in central Turin. No ticket and no registration. The show occupies Piazza Castello and the Giardini Reali from 9:00 to 19:00, and each of the last two editions drew more than 500,000 people.
- Fourteen brands are running free public test drives, including BYD, Geely, GWM, Hongqi, Lynk & Co, Zeekr, Honda, Kia, Mazda and Tesla. Nine of the fourteen are Chinese.
- Sixteen of the 42 exhibitors are Chinese-owned marques. BYD, Changan, Chery, FAW, GAC, Geely, GWM, Hongqi, ICAUR, Leapmotor, Lepas, Linktour, Lynk & Co, Omoda Jaecoo, XPeng and Zeekr. Add Geely-owned Lotus and the Kaiyi-built EMC badge and the figure reaches 18.
- The show hands out a design award for Chinese cars. All five design categories at the inaugural Turin Automotive Design Award in 2025 went to Chinese models. The second edition is September 11 at Teatro Regio.
- Chinese badges took about 6% of EU registrations from January through April 2026, against 3.2% a year earlier, per ACEA data.
- BYD outsold Tesla in Europe over the first half of 2026, 174,144 registrations to 170,351 across the EU, EFTA and the UK.
- Three satellite events surround it. A supply-chain conference on September 10, the TADA design ceremony on September 11, a supercar gathering on September 12, and the Festivalcar concours on September 26 and 27.
- Almost none of it reaches an American showroom. EU duties run 17.0% to 35.3% on Chinese-built EVs; the US applies a 100% tariff plus a connected-vehicle rule that blocks sales on ownership alone.
How the Show Works
Turin’s modern Salone is a revival, and it does not operate the way Detroit or Los Angeles does. There is no hall. Manufacturers park in the Giardini Reali and along Piazza Castello, the public walks through from nine in the morning until seven at night, and the whole thing costs nothing to attend.
That format explains the attendance figure. Half a million people is a plausible count when an exhibition is stitched into a working city center and anyone strolling past a fountain ends up inside it. Visitors came from all 102 Italian provinces in 2024 to see 43 carmakers. A year later the roster reached roughly 50.
Around the main event sit three satellites. A supply-chain conference called bTOb takes Teatro Regio on September 10. A supercar gathering fills September 12, in the spirit of the summer festival circuit that Goodwood anchors. And on September 11, in that same opera house, the Turin Automotive Design Award holds its second ceremony.
The calendar then jumps two weeks. On September 26 and 27, Festivalcar stages a concours d’elegance between Castello Cavour in Santena and Revigliasco Torinese, and part of the Turin display travels with it.
If you go. September 11 to 13, 9:00 to 19:00, Piazza Castello and the Giardini Reali in central Turin. Admission is free and no ticket or registration is required. Free test drives run from the Royal Gardens across all three days. The TADA ceremony (September 11) and the bTOb conference (September 10) are held at Teatro Regio; Festivalcar follows on September 26 and 27 in Santena and Revigliasco Torinese.
Counting the Stands
Any figure about Chinese participation depends on how you count, so here is the rule applied throughout: marques owned by a Chinese parent, counted once per exhibitor stand as the organizers list them.
By that measure the 2026 roster gives 16 of 42. BYD, Changan, Chery, FAW, GAC, Geely, GWM, Hongqi, ICAUR, Leapmotor, Lepas, Linktour, Lynk & Co, Omoda Jaecoo, XPeng and Zeekr.
Loosen the rule and the number climbs. Lotus is a British marque owned by Geely. EMC wears an Italian badge and runs an Italian dealer network of 65 outlets, but the cars underneath come from Kaiyi in Yibin, Sichuan. Count those two and it is 18 of 42, which is where the Italian trade press landed last year when it described the show as one-third Chinese. Split Omoda and Jaecoo into separate marques, as some lists do, and it climbs again.
The same counting problem shadows the European sales data. Chinese badges hold about 6% of EU registrations. Chinese-owned groups hold roughly 11% of the EU, EFTA and UK market, because that measure sweeps in Volvo and Polestar under Geely. Both figures get quoted as “Chinese market share.” They are not the same statistic.
One name on the list is worth pausing over.
Linktour builds the L6e and L7e, aluminum-framed electric city cars barely over 2.6 meters long, with top speeds of 45 and 90 km/h. They are homologated as motorized quadricycles, which places them outside the EU duties on Chinese electric vehicles. The company launched them in Rome and aims them at the Citroën Ami and the Mobilize Duo.
An Award for Chinese Design, in the Home of Italian Design
The Turin Automotive Design Award describes itself as the first professional design prize in Europe created to support cooperation between the Chinese and European industries. It ran for the first time in 2025.
Every design category went to a Chinese model. The JAC E30X took Best Material and Sustainability. Changan’s Deepal S05 won Best Human-Centric Intelligent Integration and the Deepal S07 took Best Exterior Design. Geely’s Galaxy EX5 won Best Interior Design. The Jetour Zongheng G700 took Most Innovative Design Feature. Great Wall chairman Wei Jianjun was named Person of the Year.
Andrea Levy, who chairs the show, put the purpose plainly: “The TADA is very important because we want to recognize Chinese vehicles not just for technological innovation but also for their achievements in designs.”
The 2026 edition expands to Best Exterior, Best Interior, Best User Experience, Best Concept, Best CMF and Best Human Machine Interface, plus a China Performance Car Award.
Several hundred meters from that ceremony, Italdesign will be showing eight cars from its own archive. The BMW Nazca C2 from 1991, carbon-bodied around a V12. The Ferrari GG50, built in 2005 to mark Giugiaro’s fiftieth year of professional work.
Namir from 2009, Parcour from 2013, the Zerouno coupé and its Duerta roadster, the Nissan GT-R50, and last year’s Honda NSX Tribute. Chief executive Antonio Casu is using the occasion to point at 2028, when the firm turns sixty.
Pininfarina and Ares will be there too. It makes for a tidy summary of where the industry’s ownership sits: an award for Chinese design is presented in Turin, Italdesign belongs to Volkswagen, Pininfarina belongs to Mahindra, and Lotus belongs to Geely.
The Numbers Behind the Stands
Exhibitor counts are theater. Registrations are not.
Across the first half of 2026, 5,896,683 new passenger cars were registered in the EU, a 5.7% increase over the same stretch of 2025. Battery-electric models reached a record 20.7% of that total, up from 15.6%. Chinese growth sits inside those figures rather than beside them, at a moment when the established German luxury makers are trading places with each other over far smaller margins.
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese badges, share of EU registrations (Jan-Apr) | 3.2% | ~6% |
| BYD, share of EU registrations (H1) | 1.0% | 2.4% |
| BYD, EU registrations (H1) | ~48,750 | 130,743 |
| BYD registrations, EU + EFTA + UK (H1) | not reported | 174,144 |
| Tesla registrations, EU + EFTA + UK (H1) | not reported | 170,351 |
| Five largest Chinese-owned groups, EU + EFTA + UK (H1) | not reported | 791,958 (~11%) |
BYD tripled its June volume inside the EU to more than 30,700 cars. Chery gained 271% in the same month. Leapmotor, working from a small base, grew 558.8% over the first four months. And for the first time, BYD finished a European half-year ahead of Tesla.
The five biggest Chinese-owned groups registered 791,958 vehicles between January and June.
Europe Built a Fence. They Walked Around It.
The European Commission adopted definitive countervailing duties on Chinese-built battery-electric cars on October 29, 2024, for a five-year term. BYD drew 17.0%, Geely 18.8%, SAIC 35.3%. Tesla’s Shanghai output was assessed at 7.8% after applying for individual examination. Those percentages stack on the standard 10% duty the EU charges on any imported car, so BYD pays about 27% and SAIC pays north of 45%.
Registrations doubled anyway.
The reason is written into the regulation. It covers battery-electric vehicles only.
Plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids fall outside it and pay the ordinary 10%. Chinese manufacturers read that and pivoted, hard. Chinese brands now account for roughly a third of plug-in hybrid deliveries in Europe, and the record 10.7% share of EU sales reported for May 2026 came largely through those cars rather than pure electrics.
Brussels has taken note. Reporting indicates the European Commission is moving toward extending duties to plug-in hybrids imported from China. Nothing is decided, and current rules remain battery-electric only.
A tariff aimed at one powertrain turned out to be a tariff on one powertrain.
Why an American Reader Cannot Buy Any of It
Almost nothing in the Giardini Reali is coming to a US dealership, and the reason is worth two paragraphs before we go back to the show.
The Office of the US Trade Representative took the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles to 100% effective September 27, 2024.
The Commerce Department’s connected-vehicle rule, effective March 17, 2025, went further: from model year 2027 it bars a carmaker with sufficient ties to China from selling here even if the cars are built in the United States. Assembly location is irrelevant. Ownership decides. We traced the same machinery earlier this year when two US laws turned a Chinese-engineered Cadillac into a problem GM had to design around.
Polestar shows how blunt the test is.
The Bureau of Industry and Security refused it authorization on June 25, 2026, ending American sales from model year 2027. The Polestar 3 is built at Volvo‘s plant in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Polestar 4 in Busan. Neither comes from China. Geely’s majority stake was enough. Volvo, same parent and same South Carolina factory, was authorized months earlier.
| European Union | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | Countervailing duties, Oct 2024 | Section 301 tariff + connected-vehicle rule |
| Rate on Chinese EVs | 17.0% to 35.3%, plus 10% base duty | 100% |
| Powertrains covered | Battery-electric only | All connected vehicles |
| Test applied | Where the car was built | Who owns the manufacturer |
| Workaround available | Hybrids, quadricycles, local assembly | None; US assembly does not exempt |
| Result by mid-2026 | Chinese share roughly doubled | Zero Chinese marques on sale |
The effects still travel.
Every European volume manufacturer now develops against rivals American buyers never see, which shapes what Volkswagen, Renault and Stellantis build, and VW Group has said it will cut half its models by 2030. When BYD and Chery set the price of a compact electric crossover in Milan, they help set the cost floor that Ford and General Motors design against, the same floor that has already pushed the affordable new car out of American showrooms.
The Verdict
Salone Auto Torino is the rare motor show that still works the way motor shows were supposed to: outdoors, free, in the middle of a city that built its identity on cars, with the vehicles close enough to touch and a set of keys available if you want them. That alone makes it worth three days in September. What makes this edition worth watching from a distance is the guest list. Half a million people will walk through a royal garden, sit in cars from Chongqing and Hangzhou, take a few out into traffic, and go home. It is the same lesson the Beijing show delivered in April, relocated to the home of Italian design and handed to the public for free. Turin has spent a century deciding what cars should look like. This September a good share of that argument arrives with Chinese badges on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is Salone Auto Torino 2026?
September 11 through 13, 2026, in central Turin, Italy. The exhibition occupies Piazza Castello and the Giardini Reali, running from 9:00 to 19:00 each day.
Does Salone Auto Torino charge admission?
No. Entry is free across all three days and no ticket or registration is required. The cars are displayed outdoors in public space rather than inside a convention hall, which is a large part of why the organizers report attendance above 500,000 for each of the last two editions.
How many Chinese brands are exhibiting in Turin in 2026?
Sixteen of the 42 listed exhibitors are Chinese-owned marques, counted once per stand. Including Geely-owned Lotus and the EMC badge, which sells Kaiyi-built cars through an Italian network, brings the total to 18. The 2025 edition had 17 Chinese carmakers showing more than 100 models.
Can visitors test drive cars at the show?
Yes, free of charge. Fourteen marques are confirmed for test drives: BYD, Changan, EMC, Geely, GWM, Honda, Hongqi, Kia, Lepas, Lynk & Co, Mazda, Omoda Jaecoo, Tesla and Zeekr. Nine of those are Chinese.
What is the Turin Automotive Design Award?
TADA is a design prize created to recognize Chinese automotive design and support cooperation between the Chinese and European industries. Its first edition in 2025 gave all five design categories to Chinese models. The second ceremony is September 11, 2026, at Teatro Regio, with expanded categories including a China Performance Car Award.
Why can’t Chinese car brands sell in the United States?
Two measures stack. A Section 301 tariff has applied 100% duty to Chinese electric vehicles since September 27, 2024. Separately, the Commerce Department’s connected-vehicle rule bars manufacturers owned by or subject to Chinese jurisdiction from selling model year 2027 vehicles in the US regardless of where those vehicles are assembled.
What is the connected-vehicle rule?
It is a Bureau of Industry and Security regulation effective March 17, 2025, restricting vehicle software and hardware tied to China or Russia on national-security grounds. Software prohibitions begin with model year 2027; hardware prohibitions begin with model year 2030, or January 1, 2029 for units without a model year.
Why is Polestar leaving the US market?
Commerce denied Polestar authorization under the connected-vehicle rule on June 25, 2026, because Geely holds a majority stake. Sales end with model year 2027. The Polestar 3 is built at Volvo’s Charleston, South Carolina plant and the Polestar 4 in South Korea, but assembly location does not exempt a manufacturer under the rule.
Why can Volvo still sell in the US if Geely owns it too?
Volvo received authorization from Commerce months before Polestar was refused. Reporting on the decisions points to Volvo’s separate stock listing, longer American presence and less integrated software relationship with Geely’s other brands as the distinguishing factors.
How high are EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles?
Definitive countervailing duties adopted October 29, 2024 range from 17.0% for BYD and 18.8% for Geely to 35.3% for SAIC and non-cooperating companies. Those rates sit on top of the EU’s standard 10% duty on imported cars, so the combined figure runs from roughly 27% to above 45%.
How are Chinese carmakers getting around the EU tariffs?
The duties apply only to battery-electric vehicles, so manufacturers shifted toward plug-in and conventional hybrids, which pay the ordinary 10% rate. Chinese brands now supply roughly a third of Europe’s plug-in hybrid deliveries. Some vehicles avoid the rules another way: Linktour’s L6e and L7e are classified as motorized quadricycles and fall outside the duties completely.
What share of the European market do Chinese brands hold?
Chinese badges accounted for about 6% of EU registrations from January through April 2026, up from 3.2% a year earlier. Measured differently, the five largest Chinese-owned groups registered 791,958 vehicles across the EU, EFTA and the UK in the first half of 2026, roughly 11% of that market, though that figure includes Volvo and Polestar through Geely.
What is Italdesign showing in Turin?
Eight cars: the BMW Nazca C2 (1991), Ferrari GG50 (2005), Namir (2009), Parcour (2013), Zerouno (2017), Zerouno Duerta (2018), Nissan GT-R50 (2018) and Honda NSX Tribute (2025). Three of them continue to Festivalcar on September 26 and 27, joined by a Golf GTI built to Giugiaro’s own specification.
Michael Kahn
Michael Kahn is the writer, photographer, and publisher behind The Weekly Driver. He cares about how cars drive and what they're like to own. He covers automobile industry news, car shows and events, and new car reviews. The reviews come from behind the wheel: day trips that favor back routes, treating a good meal as half the reason to go. He directs and produces the visual media, matching each car to a setting and mood that fit it. When he's not reviewing new cars, Michael races paddleboards, camels, and ostriches, along with the occasional exotic car on the racetrack, and has driven in every state and country visited.
https://theweeklydriver.com