Chinese carmakers step up challenge to Tesla’s dominance in the country’s electric vehicle market, using Shanghai Motor Show this week to present a variety of new models and technologies designed to attract younger buyers.
The groups are launching over a dozen models in Car showroom, which opened yesterday in an attempt to outperform adze, Model 3, as the best-selling electric car in the country and captures market share in the listed sector premium.
Surveys suggest that Chinese brands are becoming increasingly popular with younger customers who are more likely to buy domestic models, with top groups such as Geely, Nio Yes Xpeng, who use technology to attract interest.
William Li, CEO Nio, announced plans to expand its network of battery and charging stations in the less-served regions of northern China.
The leading national brand in the luxury electric car sector after sales of China focuses on the development of discarded battery replacement technology adze.
He also made the subscription model for battery use essential to his business model. The company signed an agreement last week with Sinopec, the state oil group, to install 5,000 exchange and charging stations across the country over the next few years.
Xpeng, a Nasdaq listed startup based in Guangzhou, last month presented its autonomous driving characteristics powered by sensors lidar, which works according to the radar principle, but use light from a laser to measure distances. Addiction to lidar is another approach that has rejected adze.
Other Chinese car groups have adopted the technology: Arcfox, a new luxury brand created by a subsidiary of the state-run company Motor Baic and the technology group HuaweiFor example, yesterday they launched their first model, Alpha S.
In the meantime, Zeekr, a brand of electric cars premium which was launched last month Geely Holdings, owner of Volvo, Lotus and has a minority stake in Daimler, targeting primarily younger customers who appreciate technology and new expertise, according to Flynn Chen, your vice president.
The company plans to launch two models a year in the next three using a network of over 100 stores that will open China this year.
Car groups that offer smart features, such as driving assistance or voice-activated entertainment systems, help stimulate interest in top Chinese brands in the face of international competition, according to Zhang Xiang, an independent industry analyst.
Measures should help China In its ambition to produce battery or hybrid vehicles, it accounts for one-fifth of car purchases on the world’s largest market, out of the current 5% of total sales, especially as the industry has begun to mature in the last year.
It is now fueled more by consumers buying larger and more expensive cars than smaller vehicles with subsidized support, a change that has been partly fueled by success. adze in gaining Chinese consumers and also because of the growing interest in rival startups in the country, such as Nio Yes Xpeng.
In addition, it may be the right time to challenge the American pioneer of electric cars, as he faces a series of controversies following the death of two men in a Tesla Model S on ME weekend. The men were in an accident and there is evidence to suggest that no one was driving the vehicle, although reports indicated it was unclear whether the autopilot was working.
There was a protest at the booth adze from a woman’s auto show wearing a white T-shirt that read “brake failure” over a adze. The company responded to the incident on Weibo, the bloggers’ website, saying the woman was a customer who had asked to return a car after a February accident, but refused to allow a third-party investigation.
Besides adze, Chinese groups will also have to fight competition from major German carmakers –hearing, Mercedes–Benz Yes BMW-, which have long dominated its luxury car market. In 2020, the three German brands sold together more than 700 thousand cars in China, a record.
However, the transition from internal combustion engines to battery-powered cars can create opportunities to establish Chinese brands that attract people under the age of 35 in the country, who account for a larger share of luxury purchases than in other markets.
Nearly half of Chinese shoppers planning to buy a car in the next six months have said they will buy a local brand, compared to a fifth in 2016, according to a survey published by JD Power last month.
Younger shoppers are more likely to buy local models; 60% of people born after 1995 say they would like to buy a national brand.
German brands that sell cars with traditional internal combustion engines have built a reputation for decades, but when it comes to the new world of electric cars, “everyone is on the same starting line,” he said. Leo Li, Oliver Wyman ‘s partner in Shanghai.
“No one has an advantage in terms of history and many Chinese start-ups have started with global perspectives and built international teams,” he noted. Wyman.
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