Chinese EVs will cause manufacturers to “hit serious difficulties”

The majority of dealers believe the arrival of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) will result in other existing manufacturers folding, a study has claimed.

The information, from Startline’s used car tracker, reveals 51% of dealers believe manufacturers will struggle and 36% that some established vehicle makers won’t survive the next few years.

Additionally, 31% said some manufacturers are already falling behind and 29% that European car makers will be hardest hit.

In other regions, 20% of dealers believe US manufacturers will struggle and 9% Japanese. Only 25% agree that there is room in the market for new and existing manufacturers to co-exist in the market.

Speaking about the findings, Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, highlighted the success of MG, which has made “quite a deep impression” on dealers – and that there was a “long list” of other Chinese manufacturers “waiting to follow in their footsteps”, such as Ora and BYD.

He said: “The competitiveness of the forthcoming products appear to range from broadly competent to really very good and, depending on factors such as pricing, brand awareness and customer support, they could make a very real impact on the market.

“The Chinese also enjoy other advantages such as ready availability of batteries and are entering the UK market as EV-only entities, meaning they will circumvent the proposed ‘EV Mandate’ on sales figures being introduced by the government.

“By contrast, existing manufacturers are in varying states of competitiveness. Some have a product plan and EV manufacturing capacity in place or coming soon that will create a smooth glide path through electrification. Others appear to be in a much worse place, carrying too much legacy ICE product, limited visible EV expertise, and having uncertain future production facilities. It is presumably these businesses that dealers have in mind when predicting that some car makers will hit serious difficulties.”

Image of Paul Burgess courtesy of Startline

Sign up for our essential
newsletter service.

Enter your details here.