As the likes of Ford and Mercedes retreat, Great Wall Motor and BYD are building factories and bringing affordable EVs and hybrids to one of the world’s biggest markets.
Beijing will now require government licenses for any effort to transfer abroad the technologies crucial for producing inexpensive electric cars.
China’s national champion carmaker BYD embodies a state-led industrial model that America may no longer be able to compete with.
China’s lead in electric vehicle technology, which is already huge, could become insurmountable if incentive programs are slashed, auto experts and environmentalists say.
BYD and other companies doubled their share of the car market after the European Union imposed higher tariffs on electric vehicles from China.
Drivers in the country, Europe’s largest car market, are avoiding vehicles from Tesla, which has seen a drop in sales in other countries as well.
Despite steep tariffs, the Chinese carmaker leapfrogged Tesla in April, in what an analyst called a “watershed moment” for the continent’s auto market.
Trump’s fixation on tariffs while he undermines America’s competitive strengths is hastening the onset of the “Chinese Century.”
Trump’s fixation on tariffs while he undermines America’s competitive strengths is hastening the onset of the “Chinese Century.”
The carmaker is expected to report a decline in quarterly earnings after Tesla’s brand suffered because of its chief executive’s role in the Trump administration.