Ahead worldwide

This country dominates the market for electric cars

Production at Chery in Wuhu. Chery is China's largest car exporter and plans to start production in Austria this year.(Bild: Stephan Schätzl)

According to a study, the global market for electric cars is led by far by China. The People's Republic was well ahead of the other major markets in terms of both production and sales.

This was announced by management consultants McKinsey in their Electric Vehicle Index. Almost two thirds of all electric cars and plug-in hybrids sold worldwide were sold in China.

At a good 8 million cars, sales were almost three times as high as in Europe and more than five times as high as in the USA. At the same time, China also dominated in terms of production: two out of three vehicles produced worldwide rolled off the production line in China.

Growing importance of Chinese brands
The importance of Chinese brands is increasing: by 2023, every second e-car sold will come from a Chinese brand. Europe, on the other hand, has fallen behind in terms of growth, with the electric car market only increasing by 16% to just over 3 million cars. According to McKinsey expert Patrick Schaufuss, the decline in subsidies in particular played a role here. For its study, the management consultancy analyzed the market shares of electric cars, purchase incentives, vehicle supply and production data in 15 important countries in Europe, Asia and America.

At the same time, however, competitive pressure is increasing in China. "The result could not only be a consolidation in the market, but also a strong export orientation of the successful Chinese brands," said Schaufuss. He spoke of overcapacities of 40 percent on the Chinese market. Chinese manufacturers expect higher returns from exports due to their cost advantages of up to 30 percent compared to Western manufacturers.

The EU Commission is planning to introduce anti-dumping duties of up to 38.1 percent on Chinese electric cars. The additional duties are to be levied from July 4. It has justified this with distortions of competition due to Chinese state subsidies, which threaten the European car industry. According to a Commission spokesperson, Chinese government representatives are expected in Brussels this week for talks on the tariffs. According to a report in the Chinese newspaper "Global Times", the government in Beijing is pushing for the announced tariffs to be overturned. However, experts doubt that the protracted EU anti-dumping proceedings can be ended so quickly.