Foreign EV in China

Hello, and greetings, again, from Shunyi for September, Tuesday 14th to be precise. Last Thursday, September 9th, we published a short article titled EV in China in which we commented that it seems non Chinese brands of NEV / EV were arriving late for the party. In particular, the Detroit makers. Today, we will expand on that a little to look at non Chinese EV brands in China.

During the early motor car take up days in China, the ICE age (Internal Combustion Engine), it does seem that European marques who were to the forefront initially, have dragged the chain somewhat with their NEV entries and fallen behind their domestic counterparts. Of course, looking beneath the surface there were economics at play here which would dictate terms.

To begin with, most Chinese makers, especially the successful ones, were in JV with foreign brands. They were arguably in a better space to be able to cut production quickly, reposition to producing NEV under their own brand names. Foreign marques on the other hand had a massive investment in design, development and marketing of current platforms so were financially tethered into maximising that investment. Perhaps gambling that their already solid reputation in the China market would offset their tardy arrival.

European Auto Brand History in China

Back in the late 1990’s private cars were not just a luxury, they were a rarity. The realm of successful business people and Gvt departments where Nissan and Audi respectively ruled supreme. In black of course. Even in Beijing in early 2000, it was rare to see private cars on the roads.

Throngs of bicycles and taxis. including Citroen – whose reputation in Beijing at least may have been built on its performance as a taxi. At that time, circa 2000, Citroen shared the taxi license with the FAW Tianjin works version of the Daihatsu Charade- known as Xiao li in Chinese, and the early WW Jetta’s. The Citroen was based on the ZX , made in China by China Dongfeng and the French PSA group- now Stellantis .

Those 3 brands corresponded – roughly – to the 3 taxi fare levels in Beijing at the time, Citroen held centre ground. For those up and coming users who wanted and could afford more luxury in their ride the Citroen impressed them enough buy their own, later known as Elysee. The ZX’s legendary performance and handling also made it a choice for many Gvt departments, Including the police.

However, by and large, VW had that sector tightly sewn up with their more powerful Jetta’s, Passat’s and potent Santana’s as well as holding the top fare taxi slot. It’s also worth noting that back in 2016 Citroen unveiled the E-Elysee EV, at the Beijing auto show. At that time the top spots in the China EV market were held by local makers, led by BYD.

This of course was well pre WeChat or social media, heck, digital was still a dream in the making. So auto makers would pitch their product based on its race track and taxi business performance. The latter probably more gruelling, demanding than the Le Mans 24 hour not to mention real time , practical, hands on relativity to the customer. One could point to the rise in popularity and sales of the Hyundai Elantra which eventually displaced the afore mentioned 3 brands as taxis in Beijing and other Chinese cities as well as police cars.

For foreign car makers the 17 or so years since 2000 would be their golden years. Especially for European and Asian brands who for the large part seem to be more popular than Detroit models. VW maintained its position as the “People’s Car” in China whilst Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW fought among themselves and Japan’s Toyota and Nissan for the luxury segment.

But that was then and this is now. Some almost 22 years since those first tentative steps China took into mass motoring. In that time, Chinese makers have learnt a lot and are already challenging international brands for dominance. Not just in their home market, but increasingly in the global market also. So, have foreign brands gambled and lost or is there room for comeback in the future? We may explore this in another article.

Introducing Everlyne YU

China Website Baidu Optimisation

In 2003 Everlyne Yu co-founded WPBeijing Marketing Studio with Englishman Peter Bic, now known as Bic Brands.

She began Uengager, as a SaaS MarTech company focused on customer engagement in 2017.

Hello, Nihao, I’m Everlyne

“I love to talk about and help people understand the amazing ways MarTech and SaaS can work to strengthen your business engagement with Chinese consumers.
I know you have questions or want to talk about your brand or business in China so please, drop me a line opposite. If you prefer live chat, call and talk to me live, in person direct.“

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Everlyne is also a key note speaker, lecturer and KOL on MarTech in China. She is CEO of Uengager, business development officer for Bicyu.

Everlyne hs been privileged to work with a variety of international organisations, from VW, Cushman Wakefield, Sodexo, Bristol Myers Squibb to local Chinese firms such as Midea, and OK Order.

If you’re looking for guidance, tips, advice on any aspect of starting or growing a business in China or training, coaching your existing China marketing team for excellence, be sure to check out Uengager. Home page and base for Everlyne Yu. Read her short bio – opposite left – or contact her direct – below – for a free, heart to heart chat.