Tag Archives: China

News

BYD is the world’s largest EV producer

The Chinese company BYD has been one of the world’s largest car manufacturers for a long time, and now it has finally sat on the throne. According to the latest data, in 2024 BYD sold 1,777,965 EVs, dethroning the long-time leader Tesla.

The year 2024 is over and it brought some changes with it. After the manufacturers collected their sales results, we got a new automotive king of electric cars. Chinese manufacturers have once again shown that they are unstoppable and that their development can hardly be followed by other manufacturers.

In 2023, Tesla produced 1.85 million electric vehicles, while 1.6 million EVs came out of BYD’s factories. However, strong competition, price and an aging fleet of Tesla EVs drove customers to competitors. Since the beginning of the year, the figures showed a drop in demand, which happened for the first time in the history of this American company.

On the other hand, Chinese companies have increased production and entered the global market. This resulted in BYD’s total sales last year increasing by 41 percent to 4.27 million cars. However, if you look at the numbers differently, Tesla is in advantages. The American company sold 1.79 million electric vehicles, while BYD sold about 1.65 million. So, these figures refer to the number of cars sold, not produced, so in this case Tesla has a slight advantage. This means that Tesla sold thousands of cars produced in 2023.

Back in 2023, China showed that it was not kidding and that sooner or later it would become a leader in automobile production. Their cars have become technologically better but also more affordable, which other big manufacturers cannot keep up with.

Source: Reuters

News

EVs more popular than ICE cars in China

In 2020, the Chinese government set a goal for electric vehicles to account for half of new car sales by 2035, but at this rate, China will reach that goal a decade early. According to the latest data, sales of electric cars in China will reach 12 million units in 2024, surpassing cars with combustion engines for the first time ever.

The latest information says that in 2024, sales of cars with combustion engines could fall to less than 11 million units, which is 10 percent less than in 2023. That’s no surprise, considering China has big plans for EVs. Plug-in hybrids are expected to be a hit this year with 4.39 million units sold, rising to 6.05 million vehicles over the next eight years.

Predictions are that once the transition point is reached, electric vehicles will continue to grow and could exceed 18 million units by 2034. By then, sales of cars with combustion engines could drop to just 2.93 million.

What could worry the manufacturers of cars with combustion engines in China is that these vehicles will have very little space in the domestic market. In 2024, the market share of foreign cars fell to 37 percent compared to 64 percent in 2020. This shows that Chinese buyers are increasingly choosing domestic vehicles in the largest new car market on the planet, resulting in a reduction in a significant source of revenue for many manufacturers.

China, as the world’s EV leader, is slowly killing its competition. EV production is turning into a game of survival, and the winners are likely to be the manufacturers that can deliver quality vehicles at affordable prices. This will also mean the shutdown of some of the all-electric brands that have been present on the market for years.

One of the first victims in the cruel automotive world is the American brand Fisker. In 2023, Fisker had big plans, production of 40,000 electric vehicles, but only 10,000 left the production lines. The Ocean SUV has received mixed reviews, with Consumer Reports claiming that the promise has not been fulfilled, while regulators have addressed issues with brakes and doors that won’t open. Further complicating the situation for Fisker was the fact that the Ocean lost its place on the list of tax-deductible electric vehicles unless leased because it was manufactured outside of North America. Now, they are bankrupt.

Source: Reuters

News

EU decided: Additional tariffs of 35% on EVs imported from China

New EU tariffs of 35% on all imported electric vehicles made in China come into force in November. This is a definitive decision of the EU that was made after the vote of 27 member states.

Two years ago, the European Commission launched an investigation into the privileged position of electric vehicles produced in China due to subsidies. “These can also be vehicles from other manufacturers if they have used subsidies in China,” said Executive Vice President of the European Commission for an Economy Valdis Dombrovskis. In order to protect European car manufacturers, it was decided that EVs from China will be subject to an additional customs duty of 38.1%. However, the EU gave the companies a chance to cooperate in the investigation, so it was decided that those who accept cooperation will have temporary lower tariffs (20.8% instead of 21%), while those who refuse cooperation will have tariffs of 37.6 percent.

In the meantime, the European Commission completed an investigation that concluded that Chinese manufacturers receive large subsidies from the Chinese government, which destroys European manufacturers. Chinese authorities rejected the results of the investigation and threatened to impose tariffs on cars and food from the European Union.

Also, the European Union specified that any alternative to these tariffs, such as the minimum price, must comply with strict requirements, which are aligned with the rules imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

It should be noted that some European manufacturers, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, were against additional tariffs on EVs from China. Some members even asked for tariffs of 45%. However, the European Commission has announced that it will start a new round of negotiations with China in order to solve the problem for a long time.

Source: Reuters