Reuters (April 22)
“The burning question facing China’s EV industry… is how and when it can convert explosive sales of ground-breaking vehicles into sustainable profits. The intense competition driving the sector’s innovation has also made China a market with precious few winners, foreign or domestic.” Approximately 170 domestic and automakers are competing in China, “but only 14 have a market share higher than 2%.” In 2024, excluding hybrids there were 327 EV models produced by 86 brands. Ultimately, there will be “few survivors from China’s hypercompetitive EV industry.”
Tags: Automakers, China, Competition, Domestic, EV industry, EVs, Explosive sales, Foreign, Ground-breaking, Hybrids, Hypercompetitive, Innovation, Market share, Survivors, Sustainable profits, Winners
The Guardian (January 30)
“Whatever the truth about DeepSeek, China’s tech sector is light years ahead on strategy and investment.” This shouldn’t come as a surprise. “China took a strategic view of the industries in which it wanted to be competitive, invested heavily to get them established, protected them when they were in their infancy, and waited patiently for the results.” China had more patent filings in 2023 that the rest of the globe combined. It graduates double the number of STEM PhDs as the U.S. And it “is already the biggest exporter of electric vehicles.” Even without DeepSeek, “the west is already losing the AI arms race.”
Tags: AI arms race, China, Competitive, DeepSeek, EVs, Invested, Investment, Losing, Patent filings, PhDs, Protected, STEM, Strategy, Tech sector, U.S.
Reuters (November 29)
“It’s time for Toyota Motor’s two biggest domestic rivals to deal with their problems by joining forces. Nissan Motor’s woes are the more obvious: poor results prompted the $9 billion manufacturer into an emergency overhaul this month. But $40 billion Honda Motor’s autos unit is subpar, too. Welding them together would give scope to cut costs, charge earnings and invest more efficiently and effectively in electric vehicles and other technology.”
Tags: Costs, Earnings, Effectively, Efficiently, Emergency, EVs, Honda, Nissan, Overhaul, Results, Rivals, Technology, Toyota, Woes
Bloomberg (November 27)
“As China’s assault on the world’s automotive industry gathers speed, Japan’s national champions are emerging as some of the biggest victims. In China itself, the world’s largest car market, Japanese automakers are fighting for survival as local competitors flood showrooms” with EVs. Chinese carmakers are also “pushing into Southeast Asia, rapidly gaining ground in what has long been a stronghold for legacy brands like Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi.” We’ve transitioned from “Made in Japan to Made in China,” with Japan’s share of global passenger car production essentially halved (from 21.6% to 11.4%) over the past 25 years while China’s share has rocketed from 1.4% to 38.4% in 2023.
Tags: Automakers, Automotive industry, Car market, Carmakers, China, Competitors, EVs, Honda, Japan, Legacy brands, Mitsubishi, Southeast Asia, Stronghold, Survival, Toyota, Victims
Fortune (October 3)
“The boss of German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is bracing his company for a ‘Darwinian battle’ as Europe’s auto giants reel from falling demand and the onslaught of Chinese competitors.” CEO Ola Källenius and Mercedes-Benz are at “a pivotal moment of sink or swim.” As EV uptake slows in the Europe, “a similar demand glut in China and the emergence of cheap competitors from the region has left Europe’s carmakers fighting fires at home and overseas.”
Tags: Carmaker, CEO, China, Competitors, Darwinian battle, Europe, EVs, Falling demand, Germany, Glut, Källenius, Mercedes-Benz, Onslaught
BBC (September 17)
“Nine out of 10 new cars sold in Norway are electric vehicles” and the country “now has more electric cars on its roads than petrol-driven vehicles.” Ironically, the money from being one of the world’s largest oil exporters is making this possible, with things like “free parking for EVs,” no city tolls, and “numerous free chargers in every Norwegian town and city, with 2,000 of them in Oslo alone,” largely underwritten by petrodollars.
Tags: Cars, City tolls, EVs, Free chargers, Free parking, Norway, Oil exporter, Oslo, Petrodollars, Petrol
New York Times (August 30)
“The world is well stocked with oil…. Demand continues to grow, but production seems likely to keep pace.” This is one reason “the market seems surprisingly calm” given “the degree of political turmoil not only in Libya but in the Middle East.” The other reason is China. After accounting for “roughly half of consumption increases in the last two decades,” China is no longer driving consumption. The nation’s shift to EVs could even “lead to drops in demand there for diesel this year and for gasoline in 2025.”
Tags: 2025, Calm, China, Consumption, Demand, Diesel, EVs, Gasoline, Libya, Middle East, Oil, Political turmoil, Production, Well stocked, World
Wall Street Journal (August 17)
“Volkswagen, GM and other big brands are losing their grip on a once-lucrative market as Chinese consumers embrace homegrown electric vehicles.” The issue is broad ranging. “Manufacturers from China’s Asian neighbors aren’t faring better… Toyota’s Chinese JV income fell 73% in the quarter through June compared with the same period of 2023, while Honda’s equity income was all but wiped out.” China is turning into “a money pit for foreign automakers.”
Tags: Big brands, China, Consumers, Equity, EVs, GM, Homegrown, Honda, Income, JV, Manufacturers, Market, Money pit, Once-lucrative, Toyota, Volkswagen
New York Times (June 22)
“With billions of dollars in trade at stake, China and the European Union have agreed to engage in talks to try to resolve an escalating dispute over tariffs.” To block the threatened tariffs on electric vehicles, “Beijing would need to persuade a majority of European Union countries, representing at least 65 percent of the bloc’s population, to overrule the European Commission” and it is expected to strategically target Germany, France, Italy and other key countries.
Tags: China, Dispute, Escalating, EU, EVs, France, Germany, Overrule, Resolve, Target, Tariffs, Trade
Automotive News Europe (June 12)
“European automakers are being challenged by an influx of lower-cost EVs from Chinese rivals,” which have surged in popularity, with their EU market share rising to 8% (from less than 1% in 2019), and potential to reach 15% in 2025. Still, Mercedes, BMW and VW all lined up against the EU’s new 38% tariff on EVs exported from China because “China is a key profit center” for the German automakers who “could face counter measures in China.”
Tags: 38% tariff, BMW, Challenged, China, Chinese rivals, Counter measures, EU, EVs, German automakers, Influx, Market share, Mercedes, Popularity, Profit center, VW
