China's EVs Going Global

If you bought an electric vehicle in the UK this year, there’s a good chance it was an MG4. The fully electric hatchback, which launched in 2022, sold 5,200 units in the first three months of this year, the second-best selling EV behind Tesla’s Model Y.


With prices starting at about £27,000, it is also substantially cheaper than the Tesla at £45,000. And while MG is one of Britain’s most famous car brands – with a century of carmaking in Birmingham until MG Rover’s 2005 collapse – the secret to its newfound success comes from China. Since 2007, the company has been owned, and the cars made, by SAIC, China’s largest carmaker.


In the past few years, China has been churning out EVs of a quality and price that is making western marques nervous. More than a quarter of new cars sold in China last year were EVs or hybrids, compared with 13% globally. And of the 850,000 electric passenger cars imported to Europe in 2022, more than half came from China.

Xi Jinping, China’s president, has pledged to take the country to net zero emissions by 2060. In the EU, the target is 2050. For both, decarbonising the streets with EVs will be crucial, and China is racing ahead. By 2025, 13% of China’s fleet is predicted to be fully electric or hybrid, compared with 6% globally.


After an astonishing rise, some analysts are wondering if China’s EV industry can continue to accelerate, as the government winds down state support and geopolitical tensions threaten to dampen global demand for its cars.  READ MORE...

China Leads the World in EVs

SHANGHAI — When Shanghai held its international auto show this spring, the world’s biggest names were there: Toyota, Ford, BMW and more. But Chinese brands such as BYD and NIO stood out with electric vehicles that are cutting-edge — and affordable.

China’s electric vehicle companies have grown rapidly in recent years, becoming major competitors for U.S. automakers like Tesla.

William Li, the CEO of NIO, said competition in the EV industry is “much fiercer” in China, the world’s largest market for EVs and for automobiles overall.

Every company “must go all out,” he said in an interview at the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Auto Show in April. “Otherwise, you may be ahead today, [but] you may not be ahead in a few months.”

The fierce competition has spurred rapid development of the industry. According to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research, about one-quarter of passenger cars sold in China last year were all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, compared with about 7% in the U.S.

“China is way ahead of the U.S. in terms of EV adoption,” said Soumen Mandal, a senior analyst for Counterpoint, based in Kolkata, India.  READ MORE...