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☆ Hybrid vehicle sales surge in China, posing fresh threat to foreign automakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

A Li L7 electric SUV by Li Auto is displayed at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China April 18, 2023. One-third of total vehicle sales by Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker, are already hybrids and the company reported a 34% surge in hybrid sales in the six months to end-September, outpacing 9% growth in overall revenue. Sales of HEVs in China, which Toyota still dominates with four top-selling models, tumbled 15%, while gasoline car sales dropped 11%, underscoring potential challenges facing foreign automakers. But it was a failed trial, with sales of just over 4,000 units, and GM in 2020 halted sales. BYD is expanding PHEV sales overseas, offering Han, Qin and Song lineups in Latin America, which has less charging infrastructure.

Persons: Li Auto, Aly, Xu Min, Yale Zhang, BYD, Li, Han, Qin, Stellantis, Leapmotor, Xu, Bill Russo, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Miyoung Kim, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Li, Auto, REUTERS, Rights, Toyota, Honda, Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute, Intelligent, Reuters, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, HK, Automotive Foresight, Reuters Graphics, Prius, General Motors, Buick, GM, Li Auto, Jiao Tong University, HEVs, Thomson Locations: Auto Shanghai, Shanghai, China, Europe, U.S, outpacing, United States, Shanghai Jiao, Reuters Graphics CHINA, America, Leapmotor, North America

☆ Global automakers scramble to reset China strategies as sales slow
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Global automakers, who for years have dominated the market along with their Chinese state-run partners, have been slow to pivot to the fast-growing market for EVs with competitive offerings. "This major collaboration between Volkswagen and Xpeng is a milestone for our electrification strategy 'in China for China'," said Ralf Brandstatter, a VW board member on his social media account. Their deeper pockets give established foreign automakers who are determined to fight for share in China, the ability to play a long game. Kia (000270.KS) is to enter China's EV market with its first EV, the EV6 crossover, via imports in August. "The German brands benefit from significant global scale," said He Lei, CEO of Chinese EV trading platform xChuxing.

Persons: Aly, Yale Zhang, Ralf Brandstatter, We've, Mary Barra, Tu Le, Yang Honghai, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen's Audi, Lei, It's, Bill Russo, Automobility, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Kevin Krolicki Organizations: Audi, Volkswagen, Auto, REUTERS, General Motors, Toyota, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Global, BMW, Mitsubishi, Automotive Foresight, GM, Reuters Graphics Volkswagen, BYD, China's Xpeng, HK, SAIC, VW, Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, CHINA EV INC, Tesla, China EV Inc, Volkswagen's, EV, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Ford, Renault, Thomson Locations: Auto Shanghai, Shanghai, China, SHANGHAI, CHINA, Kia China, KS

☆ Tesla to hit record quarterly sales in China even as market share shrinks - analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, June 28 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) is set to hit another record quarter with its China sales while it faces mounting pressure from local competitors such as BYD eating into its share in the world's largest auto market, analysts say. Deutsche Bank predicted Tesla's China sales to hit 153,000 units in the second quarter, while globally it could sell 448,000 units in total. Tesla will announce global sales numbers over the weekend, while China sales will be available from association data in the first week of July. It has outsold Tesla in Singapore in the first five months while its Atto 3 outsold Tesla's Model 3 in Australia in May. As its Shanghai plant achieves an annual production capacity of over 1 million units, Tesla is selling into new markets in the region including Thailand and Malaysia with China-made cars.

Persons: Shi Ji, Shi, Tesla, Yale Zhang, BYD, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Lincoln Organizations: U.S, China Merchants Bank International Securities, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Deutsche Bank, Automotive Foresight, EV, HK, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Shanghai, North America, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia

☆ A Chinese EV billionaire's wealth has plummeted 75% to $1.4 billion as aggressive price wars push customers to higher-tier cars — like Tesla or BYD
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The fortune of He Xiaopeng, CEO of Chinese EV maker Xpeng, has fallen 75% from a 2021 peak. He owns 20.5% of Xpeng shares, which tanked nearly 20% this year. Despite the wealth wipeout, He is still the 2,048th richest person in the world — although his net worth is now just a quarter of his $5.5 billion wealth in 2021, per Forbes. The Alibaba-backed company's first-quarter net loss also widened to 2.34 billion yuan from 1.7 billion yuan a year ago. The EV maker launched its first mass-produced model, the G3, in 2018.

[1/3] BMW's concept model i Vision Dee is unveiled during an event at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China April 18, 2023. While the battery-electric vehicle market share of German automakers in China is rising, it is still miniscule. The EV sales of all four German brands added up to only a quarter of BYD's in 2022. "The Chinese market is no longer as stable for German carmakers as it was," Thomas Luk, partner at management consultancy Kearney, said on the sidelines of the Shanghai show. Many are also adopting direct sales, an approach German automakers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz have also said in recent months they are moving towards.

☆ Tesla's China sales slow as price-cut boost wanes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. automaker nearly doubled weekly retail sales in the week of Feb. 20 to 10,703 vehicles versus a week prior, showed data from China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) on Tuesday, which tracks weekly retail sales based on car insurance registrations. Sales are slowing in part due to an ageing product line, said Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight. Consumers are also delaying purchases while waiting to see if other EV makers cut prices, Zhang said. Meanwhile, the market share of BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ), surged to 37% from 27%, CMBI data showed. Smaller EV players such as Leap Motor and Great Wall Motor Co Ltd's (601633.SS) Ora are among those whose market share shrank.

☆ Analysis: In China, Tesla could win electric vehicle price battle – but lose the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/5] Visitors check a Tesla Model 3 car next to a Model Y displayed at a showroom of the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Florence LoSummarySummary Companies Tesla price cuts have jumpstarted sales in world no. Most immediately, Tesla's January price cuts drove deliveries of its China-made vehicles up 18% from December. From 15% in 2020, its share of the China EV market fell by a third to just 10% in 2022, according to data from the CPCA. After the latest price cuts, the Model 3 starts at about $34,000 and the Model Y at $38,000.

☆ Tesla weighs reset for China retail strategy even as sales boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla's China recruitment website showed more than 300 openings for service jobs as of Thursday. Musk said last week on Twitter, in response to a Tesla owner in Texas who complained that he had been waiting a month to get his vehicle fixed, that he had made "advancing Tesla service to make it awesome" a top priority. That has allowed it more leeway to adjust a retail strategy that had been initially modeled on Apple's stores. More than half of Tesla's showrooms in seven of China's biggest cities, including Shenzhen and Chengdu, are now in downtown areas, according to a Reuters count based on Tesla's China website. Nio, like Tesla, has a network of high profile urban stores in China.

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