Xiaomi’s electric sedan SU7 has been pegged as a competitor to Tesla’s Model 3 and Porsche’s electric Taycan.
It was a microcosm of the industry-wide tussle that has seen companies slash prices, swallow losses and upgrade their technologies to fight for a share of the market. The adoption of NEVs has been on an upward trajectory – reaching 8.1 million new registrations in 2023 – as government subsidies, tax incentives and intense competition make such vehicles more affordable.
Xiaomi’s SU7, a sporty sedan pegged as a competitor to Tesla’s Model 3 and Porsche’s electric Taycan,Mr Lei hopes that the SU7 will turn in profits in the next year or two, but says that this will hinge on achieving a sizable volume of annual sales.“Competition that brings down the price of EVs will ultimately benefit consumers,” said Mr Fu Xing, a 25-year-old car engineer at Mercedes-Benz who was browsing the auto show in his private capacity.
Only nine NEV makers had more than 2 per cent in market share last year, according to sales figures published by Ways Information Technology, a Guangzhou-based automotive data analytics firm.How China’s car companies built so wide a lead in the race to make EVs Industry bigwig BYD profits as much as 10 times more from every unit of sales in the EU than in China, according to an April report by the US-based research firm Rhodium Group.
In 2023, China exported 1.2 million NEVs, up 77.6 per cent from the previous year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Europe and the US are the world’s second- and third-largest NEV markets after China, with these three markets accounting for nearly 95 per cent of global NEV sales in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency.Ultimately, analysts say that for Chinese NEV makers to remain viable amid the intensifying competition, innovation is key.
GAC’s plug-in hybrid Trumpchi E9 features a passenger seat which doubles as a detachable electric wheelchair. ST PHOTO: JOYCE ZK LIM