Having just done an extensive trip to a number of countries around South East Asia, I was blown away by the sheer number and variety of China made EVs that have started to percolate onto the streets.
But not everything is going to plan in the Worlds biggest EV market, China, with sales for new EVs falling short of official projections for the year to date and well below the rate of sales for last year.
Sales for battery-powered EVs in China continues to slow in the first quarter of the year with deliveries falling of both plug-in hybrids and pure EVs slumping to just 1.76 million units, a fall of 31%, compared to the same period a year earlier according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association released last Friday.
China already had an over capacity for battery manufacturing but they are also opening new factories faster than my son can eat a chocolate bar.
The slowing pace of sales and massive overcapacity has fuelled an intensive price war in the market being lead by BYD, the Tesla beating car maker, as they fight to maintain critical mass and protect their investments.
This year they have lowered their prices numerous times and by far greater amounts than the competition, especially Tesla.
Prices for their Seagull, the invasive species that Europe is worried about, is a mere 5% down but prices for their best-selling Atto-3 has been slashed by 12%.
Despite the cuts, BYD’s share of the new build EV market shrank to a little over 30% in February, the lowest since early 2022 and they are the world’s biggest EV seller despite their ongoing quality issues.
Dozens of other manufacturers have entered the price wars including Geely, Aion, Leapmotor and Xipeng with discounts of up to 17%.
So it is a good time to be in the new car market in China. Interestingly it is possible that an equilibrium between ICE and EV sales at a ratio of about 65:35 which is a little over the umber that Akido Toyoda predicted in a number of speeches that we have reported upon.
The bad news for the established European and Asian Car Manufacturers is that this will lead to massive dumping of products on the international markets, leading to a reduction in profits and an increase in costs as they struggle to convince the public that their products are every bit as exciting and innovative as those from the PRC.
For me an EV is still not something that I can fall in love with and the on-going lack attention to engineering detail lack of after-market care from the Chinese manufacturers would stop me buying any on offer at the moment.
