According to the statistical analysis of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), in October 2021, automotive enterprises exported 231,000 units, up 33.8% YoY and 1.1 times YoY. Among them, the contribution of new energy vehicle export growth was 43.3%. 1,594,000 units were exported by auto enterprises from January to October 2021, up 1.2 times year-on-year. from January to October, the top ten countries in China’s auto commodity export value were: the United States, Japan, Mexico, Germany, the Russian Federation, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia and Vietnam, in that order.
Can China’s low-cost pure electric cars sweep the world? The Hongguang MINI EV surpassed Tesla in China because it accurately captured consumer demand. The overwhelmingly low price achieved by dropping the range to 120 km, combined with the convenience of being able to charge at your own home, has been popular in rural and local cities.
Overseas markets also seem to have new demand. “There were no pure electric cars for small cities that were this cheap before.” Such a view was reported in the media. The Freze Nikrob EV is said to be 20% cheaper than the current competing models and has a flexible turn for narrow roads. It is thought that the same demand will increase in Asia, driven by the recent trend of decarbonization.
According to Kang Jun, an analyst at LMC Automotive in the UK, the combination of excellent competitiveness (of China’s low-cost pure electric vehicles) in terms of price, design and quality has a high probability of success overseas. In fact, Sagawa Express, a delivery company owned by Japan’s SG Holdings, has also decided to adopt a small pure electric car made in China.
How should companies respond to the new trend of low-cost pure electric vehicles originating in China, following Tesla in the United States? Some analysts believe that Toyota and Volkswagen will adopt a strategy of competing in popular models such as SUVs.
Some Chinese analysts say that “the world’s major car companies are stuck with brand appeal backed by quality and safety, and have different cost structures than Chinese companies, including labor and development costs, making it difficult for them to launch low-cost pure electric vehicles. With the wind of the decarbonization era, the time may come when China’s low-cost pure electric vehicles will be driven around the world.
