GUANGZHOU, China/Shanghai: China's new energy vehicle market is likely to see a sales rebound next year as automakers roll out more new products to lure buyers, but more supportive government policies are needed, auto executives said.
"For next year, we foresee the NEV market will continue to grow, maybe not as dramatic as it was in the past," Stephan Woellenstein, Volkswagen Group's chief in China told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Guangzhou Autoshow last week. Carmakers such as Volkswagen, Toyota's Lexus, Daimler's Mercedes Benz and Tesla came out in force at the Guangzhou Autoshow to showcase newly launched electric vehicles with fresh designs.Brian Gu, president of Guangzhou-based electric vehicle start-up XPeng which just raised US$400 million from Xiaomi and other investors, said he believed that improvements to the country's charging infrastructure would help NEV sales to recover next year.
"In about two years time, from my perspectives, electric vehicles will be significantly cheaper than ICEs , as battery costs come down very rapidly and volumes will drag down cost."