Nobody Saw China's Yutong Coming — Now It Outsells Mercedes, MAN & Volvo

In the first half of 2026, Chinese bus maker Yutong sold 1,636 battery-electric buses in Europe, more than MAN, Mercedes and Volvo, and about three for every Mercedes. Yet Yutong has been in Europe since 2004 and was already number one in electric buses in Europe in 2022. This documentary follows how a former bus repair workshop from Zhengzhou became Europe's leading electric bus maker: Bergen's 102-bus order, Turin's lost tender and the comeback in Bari, a Budapest bid far below Solaris, and why the EU's tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles don't apply to buses at all. Then the question Norway asked: can China switch off Europe's buses? Oslo's transport authority Ruter drove a 2025 Yutong into a disused mine to find out, and found a Romanian SIM card that gives the manufacturer access to battery and power systems. We look at what the test really showed, what Yutong, Daimler, the UK Transport Secretary and Denmark's Movia say, who actually holds the switch, and whether Yutong electric buses are reliable on a cold January morning. Chapters 0:00 Yutong sells more electric buses in Europe than Mercedes, MAN and Volvo 0:34 Mercedes still leads in all buses; Yutong leads in electric 1:23 Nobody was looking: Yutong in Europe since 2004 2:25 Yutong was already #1 in electric buses in Europe in 2022 3:46 Norway said yes: Bergen's 102 Yutong buses 6:53 Why the EU's EV tariffs don't apply to Chinese buses 7:52 What's inside a Yutong E12: CATL battery, ZF axles 9:12 Where were Mercedes, MAN and Volvo? 12:33 Are Yutong buses reliable in winter? 15:14 The mine: Oslo's security test of a Yutong bus 16:41 The Romanian SIM card: can the maker reach the bus? 18:36 Who holds the switch: UK, Denmark and Norway's answers 20:32 Why operators don't just remove the SIM card 21:17 Can China switch off Europe's buses? The answer