The SAIC-GM-Wuling Mini EV, China's best selling electric vehicle in 2021. Starting at $4,500, the Mini is a hit among young people who customize it with exotic decals.
China’s appetite for electric vehicles (EVs) has shifted into high gear, with homegrown companies moving to the fore. EV sales nationwide increased by roughly 150 percent to more than 3 million last year, according to figures from the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers, and they are expected to double again in 2022, predicts the China Passenger Car Association.
The EV boom has given China’s auto industry a much-needed burst of speed, with sales of all passenger cars rising last year for the first time since 2017 — despite another drop in the sale of cars powered by internal combustion engines.
As China’s transition to electric vehicles motors ahead, local automakers have been the main beneficiaries. Eight of the top ten electric car models sold in China in 2021 were produced by Chinese carmakers, with foreign brands like Audi, GM, and Volkswagen — dominant for decades in China — lagging behind.
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Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative under Donald Trump, reflects on his decision to launch the trade war with China and begin the process of "strategic decoupling" — a process he says the U.S. must see through to the end.
