China’s EVs at the Paris Auto Show
Chinese car makers at the Paris Auto Show claim their technology is what sets them apart from their European rivals.
CGTN’s Ross Cullen reports.
CGTN’s Ross Cullen reports.
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00:00The presence of Chinese cars on European roads has been accelerating, and there is certainly
00:06no shortage of brands from China at the Paris Auto Show. But from next month, the EU will
00:12introduce new taxes on China-made electric vehicles. Some Chinese car makers are now
00:17considering local production. By manufacturing EVs in Europe, they would not be liable for
00:22the new duties. Some firms are already expanding here, and believe they are uniquely placed
00:28to overtake established names.
00:31Through its technology and through its investment in R&D, you must know that we have more than
00:38100,000 engineers. So basically, we are having 15 patterns approved every day of the week.
00:46Registration of China-built electric vehicles totaled 3.5% of the EU market in 2020. That
00:52rose to 27% in the second quarter of this year. That's good news for Chinese firms,
00:58but the EU wants to protect its domestic car makers, which have been picking up punctures
01:04recently. Car sales in China for Germany's BMW and MINI, a British brand it owns, fell
01:1030% last quarter. German combustion models used to dominate the market in Beijing, Shanghai
01:16and Guangzhou. But EVs and plug-in hybrids now make up more than half of car sales in
01:22China.
01:23We can see competitors. We have many competitors here on the Paris Motor Show, and they are
01:28offering new electric cars. Really interesting for the market with lower prices, with smaller
01:36cars as well, and it's really interesting.
01:40Despite the huge number of chargeable cars making their debut here, EU countries are
01:45starting to phase out customer incentives to go green.
01:49While consumers are still buying electric cars, growth is slowing down, coinciding with
01:54a rapid shift to EVs from market rivals like China.
01:58Ross Cullen, CGTN, Paris.