Top executives at BMW and Volkswagen on Wednesday warned against imposing EU import duties on electric vehicles from Chinese automakers, saying it could upend the bloc's Green Deal plan and harm automakers that import cars made in China.

The European Commission, which oversees trade policy in the 27-nation European Union, launched an investigation in October into whether fully-electric cars manufactured in China were receiving distortive subsidies and warranted extra tariffs.

"You could very quickly shoot yourself in the foot," BMW (BMWG.DE), opens new tab CEO Oliver Zipse told reporters after the German premium automaker reported quarterly results.

BMW imports Chinese-made Mini EVs and the iX3 into Europe.

Like its German rivals Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab and Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), opens new tab, BMW is heavily reliant on revenues from its Chinese business.

China is BMW's second-largest market after Europe, accounting for nearly 32% of sales in the first quarter.

"We don't think that our industry needs protection," Zipse told analysts on Wednesday, adding that operating on a global basis gives major automakers an industrial advantage. "You can easily endanger that advantage by introducing import tariffs."

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker which also heavily relies on China, warned that potential duties generally carried a certain risk.

"There's always some sort of retaliation," Thomas Schaefer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, told the FT's Future of the Car Summit.

In March, the Commission started customs registration of Chinese EV imports, meaning they could be hit by tariffs from that point if the trade investigation concludes they are receiving unfair subsidies.

The probe is due to conclude by November, but the EU could impose provisional duties in July. Brussels should publish a summary of proposed provisional duties by June 5 and these duties would be imposed by July 4.