From Toronto to Brussels the politicians of the world seem to be at war with China’s EVs. Most recently, Trudeau’s Canada slapped a 100% tariff on them, this was hot on the heels of such announcements from the EU and the USA and many others.
But in dear old blighty, the story is not the same. You will find China’s EVs in some of the most unusual places; in fact, I recently took a stroll down Mayfair (a pretty up-market neighbourhood) and just opposite the Rolls Royce showroom that has been there since before my Mother was born not far from there and you will see a brand new BYD ‘shop’. I am sure that the juxtaposition was intentional.
BYD do pitch their cars as being what dreams are made of, hence the name, but in truth, people buy them because they are probably the most affordable on the market.
The recently launched Dolphin for instance costs just USD32,000 which is quite a bit higher than the USD14,000 you would pay for it in the Peoples Republic, but motoring Journalists in the UK still describe the pricing as pretty darn good.
This means they can drop the price significantly and still make a profit which should worry the living daylights out of UK manufacturers—but it doesn’t. Thus far UK makers have been silent.
UK drivers have slowly been accepting of Chinese EV’s when I was there recently about the only brand I saw with any frequency was the MG, others were a noteworthy moment.
According to government figures though, Chinese brands account for 10% of all new EV sales on the Island, but an underlying figure is that 22% of all EVs sold in the UK are made in China, it is where most of the Teslas come from and probably a lot of the Volvo’s as well.
EV sales have plateaued out in the UK and the dealers are finding it almost impossible to shift the required 22% EV target required by the government.
This is largely because of the expense of buying a new EV which costs more and will depreciate in value faster than an ICE equivalent, not to mention range anxiety etc. Thus cheaper EVs should be welcome, the same argument should also hold water in the EU and USA and of course, Canada but as I mentioned earlier they are trying to curb the onslaught of Chinese-branded EVs.
Despite the new looney-left Labour government in the UK and their pledge for “Securonomics” which is suspiciously like Bidens (failed) ‘Bidenomics’ thus far there is no mention of even an investigation into Chinese EVs by the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA).
As I mentioned earlier, the UK’s indigenous manufacturers have also held-off from making any noise.
So why is the policy so far so different in the UK? Probably because they do not want to suffer retaliatory sanctions.
A big part of the UK car industry makes a living by selling luxury cars to the Peoples Republic. Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Range Rover, Aston Martin are the rich-elites brands of choice and losing this would be fatal to the UK Car industry.
Other luxury items like Scotch Whiskey and Smoked Salmon could also be on the chopping block and Westminster is always wary of offending voters on either side of the border. Or am I being cynical?
It is well documented that EVs manufactured in China benefit from massive subsidies so the UK consumer can enjoy cheaper cars at the expense of the Chinese tax payer which is good for the short term, but getting my crystal ball out I still think that the World should be wary of China’s EVs and their desire for Global dominance in the sphere of future transportation.
