Preferences have shifted in China's huge car sector, with a big rise in support for local brands like BYD.Global demand for electric vehicles has cooled in recent months after a dramatic rise over the last decade, leading several major car manufacturers to scale back electrification plans.And while legacy Western automakers seem to have hit a speed bump in the Chinese market, local car firms are challenging the traditional motoring giants both at home and abroad.
Over the past five years, China has dramatically shifted from the combustion-engine age — when foreign-made cars were seen as the pinnacle of engineering — to the electric age, where the country is a world leader. Chinese-made EVs are also often packed with Tesla-inspired gadgets like tablet screens, entertainment, AI and autonomous driving capabilities.
After years of battery development and a low-cost labour force, Chinese companies are able to make cars much more cheaply than traditional manufacturers.With China's car exports reaching record highs this year, Anderson said prospective owners in markets like Australia had become more open to Chinese brands because their performance was much improved."The cars were unexportable because we wouldn't put up with how poor they were to drive. They felt awful.
Even as the EU and US erect new trade barriers, Chinese car firms are still investing heavily in overseas expansion.By building in newly tariffed areas — to avoid the restrictions — Chinese companies are merely "doing what Japanese and Korean car makers did before them", Anderson said.