Are Chinese electric car start-ups doomed after Tesla’s big price cuts?
- Tesla’s price cuts have provoked a fierce debate over the maturity of domestic EV industry – especially newcomers
- Rapid growth in China’s EV market has been driven by government incentives to encourage consumers to shift away from gas guzzlers
In recent years there has been a wave of Chinese electric vehicle makers – from Byton to Nio to Xpeng – looking to take on Elon Musk’s Tesla, encouraged by government support for a move away from the internal combustion engine.
Now that the Palo Alto-based giant has slashed prices ahead of commencing local production later this year in China, people are asking if the burgeoning crowd of domestic challengers are going to run out of road.
It has become such a hot topic that even Miao Wei, China’s industry and information technology minister, has joined the debate.
“Not all [independent Chinese carmakers] will die, but neither can they all survive,” the minister told the China Securities Journal when asked about the impact of Tesla’s price cuts on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress on Tuesday.
Competition from Tesla is a “good thing” for domestic companies as the two sides can learn from each other, said Miao, adding that the market can decide who survives.
