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It’s been a while since we looked at Ev and motoring in China. Today we take a quick look back, and then forward to the current position.
Over the past 2 or 3 years we have published various articles re China Ev and the China motoring industry in general. This article will revisit some of them. In particular, back in 2021 we talked about the falling sales of foreign motor brands in China. The industry generally shrugged it off as just a blip.
However what was missed at the time was that the foreign big European and Japanese brands that had pretty much dominated the Chinese car market were still promoting their big engine fossil fuel vehicles. Chinese makers on the other hand, had switched to EV.
Public awareness and appetite for EV was growin, partially thanks to a large PR campaign which coincided with China’s also growing awareness of the environment. The other factor driving the rise in Ev sales was a healthy Gvt subsidy. Unlike the bulk of the world where EV was still pricey, the realm of the wealthy, in China it has became well within the grasp of everyday Chinese.
Also playing into this popularity were the increasing number of charging stations being build around the country. So perhaps what foreign builders missed was, that whilst they were pumping the hi end market full of soon to be obsolete ICE machines, Chinese makers focused on the bread and butter. Effectively cutting the ground from under foreign marques feet.
Part of the reason for sales decline was pinned on the silicon shortage impacting chips used in automobile manufacture. And of course, the spectre of Covid. However, both of those impacted across the board.
In other words foreign and Chinese brands both suffered.
Back in ’21 we questioned if foreign brands were trying to maximise profits on their old ICE vehicles by “dumping” them in China before launching their own EV range. We saw this as short sighted.
In 2021 we wrote:
So perhaps the decline in foreign brands share of the China auto market was a mix of circumstances. Very attractive Gvt subsidies on EV and a natural levelling followed by Covid. However, it can’t be ruled out that maybe a certain amount of arrogance was also at play here coupled with a gross underestimation of how fast the native China EV market would grow.
Rise and Fall of Foreign Autos in China
These are a few other articles we have published over 2021:
However, that, as they say, was then – this is now.
Today we look at what is unfolding early 2023
BYD’s new budget model flies out the door as sales close in on Tesla (Article courtesy of Caixin Premium)
BYD Co. Ltd., the world’s second-biggest maker of new energy vehicles (NEVs), sold more of its new budget electric-powered car in China in the week since it launched than No. 1 Tesla sold there for all of January as its low-price strategy further cements its rising dominance.
Sales of the Qin Plus DM-i Champion Edition passed 32,000 Feb. 17, more than half the figure for its top-selling Song range of 49,709 units for last month, according to a Wednesday post on BYD’s official Weibo account. Tesla by comparison sold 26,843 cars in January, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
Japanese, German carmakers lose ground in China after falling behind on EVs (Article courtesy of Caixin Premium)
January turned out to be a bad month for Japanese and German car sales in China. Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. sales in China plunged 64.4% year-on-year. Japan’s No. 2 automaker, Honda Motor Co. Ltd.sales in China fell 56.2% from the previous year.
Germany’s largest automaker Volkswagen AG also lost ground in China last year. Its two local JVs fell to 14.8% from 16% in 2021.
Perhaps rubbing salt in to foreign makers wounds, Chinese electric cars have taken Israel by storm in a short period of time.
According to the latest figures issued by the Israel Vehicle Importers Association, China jumped to Israel’s largest supplier of imported passenger cars in January, with 7,753 units sold in the month, up from only 685 last year.
For the entire year of 2022, the Geometry C electric model, manufactured by China’s automaker Geely Auto Group, was crowned the best-selling electric vehicle in Israel with 5,381 units sold, ahead of the US Tesla’s Model 3, which sold 2,959 units.
Yutong beats local rivals in European e-bus market
Chinese bus maker Yutong sat atop the list of popular electric bus makers in Europe in 2022, beating local giants including Mercedes and Volvo.
479 Yutong buses were registered in Europe last year, up 58% year-on-year. Sino-British joint venture BYD-ADL ranked second, with 465 registrations in 2022, followed by Mercedes at 405 and China’s BYD with 322 registrations, sixth place. Another Chinese company Golden Dragon ranked 10th, with 133 registrations.
Beijing Auto Accessories Expo
If the selected images from the recent Beijing auto accessories expo are anything to go by, we could be seeing some rather bright and unusually coloured vehicles on China roads this year. – again courtesy of China Daily.
Finally for today, we take a look at the current state of China’s charging infrastructure.
China EV Charging facilities double in 2022
China EV charging facilities saw a near 100 percent year-on-year growth in 2022, bringing the total number to 5.2 million units, according to the National Energy Administration on Monday.
Of these, approximately 650,000 were public charging facilities, bringing the cumulative total to 1.8 million; while around 1.9 million were private charging facilities, bringing the cumulative total to over 3.4 million, according to the NEA.
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