Xpeng's P7 was unveiled at Auto Guangzhou, November 22, 2019. Credit: Xpeng
There’s a price war underway in China’s electric vehicle (EV) market, and it’s taking place on multiple fronts. Since January, more than 30 automakers have slashed the prices of their vehicles, amid a steep drop in demand for new cars. Now, battery makers are joining in too, spurred on by aggressive moves by China’s CATL, the world’s largest battery maker.
The falling price of EVs ought to be welcomed by consumers, which in turn could be positive news for the energy transition: China’s EV market is already the world’s largest by a significant margin, accounting for more than half of electric vehicle sales last year. But the aggressive price cutting and deal making is drawing the attention of China’s regulators — and even apprehensive words from Xi Jinping.
This week, The Wire looks at China's electric vehicle price war: how it started, the potential winners and losers, and implications for the long-term competitiveness of the nascent sector.
HOW I
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with Wang Wentao, the Chinese Commerce Minister, in Washington. It marked the first cabinet-level meeting in Washington between the U.S. and China during the Biden administration, and it was a signal of the Commerce Department’s increasingly central role in the current U.S.-China relationship. Usually, the Commerce Department is far from the center of anything, but as Katrina Northrop reports, the department is uniquely suited to address the China challenge.
The lawyer and author talks about the attack on a train in the 1920s which created an international incident, the rise of the Communist Party and the conditions for foreign media in China today.
