Report Launch: The Automotive and New Energy Vehicle Market in China

The COVID pandemic that began in 2020 had an effect on the demand for vehicles in China, with 25.3 million sold in that year, fewer than in 2019. The drop in sales was relatively small though: at 1.9%, it was less than that seen in Europe over the same time period. Despite this fall there remain, from the perspective of EU SMEs, a number of positive trends within the automotive and NEV market in China, including the continued preference for passenger vehicles made by foreign companies over those made by Chinese companies (the former accounted for 62% of total passenger vehicles sales in 2020), as well as the growth in sales of commercial vehicles (5.13 million sold in 2020), trucks (4.69 million sold in 2020, most of which were heavy and light trucks, although medium-sized trucks and minivans also saw growth in sales), sports utility vehicles, and pick[1]up trucks. Further, China has now been the largest market for vehicles worldwide since 2009 and is home to over 70 cities with more than 1 million registered vehicles, of which 13 have more than 3 million.

The opportunities for European companies, including SMEs, in China are manifold. They include the high potential for growth in the automotive market in China due to increasing incomes and current low rates of vehicle ownership vis-à-vis many Western countries; a growing pursuit of quality as opposed to making purchasing decisions based mainly on price factors; NEV sales increasing in 2021, demonstrating a reversal of the figures seen in 2020; the expanding popularity of sales of used vehicles; the perception that automotive parts from Europe are of a high quality due to the many European brands that have already successfully entered the China market, and the concomitant dominance of European companies in this market; and a demonstrable demand from Chinese OEMs for European parts. At the same, time, there are challenges present in the market, such as the ongoing economic uncertainty caused by COVID, as well as the difficulties in establishing a distribution network and strong reputation in a country as large as China, finding experienced staff, and rising competition from Chinese in-market players.

The Automotive and NEV market report provides an overview of the automotive and new energy vehicle (NEV) market in China, the structure of the market and a deep dive into the NEV market, as well as a study of both the opportunities and challenges facing EU SMEs in this market.

You can find the recorded webinar on YouTube here:

Agenda:

17:00 – 17:05: Opening & welcome remarks

-Alessio Petino, Knowledge Coordinator, EU SME Centre

17:05 – 17:35: Keynote speech – Report presentation

-Mark Xu, Assistant Director, Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation Sector, CBBC

17:35 – 17:55: Q&A

17:55 – 18:00: Wrap Up

09:00 – 09:05 (UK)

10:00 – 10:05 (BE)

17:00 – 17:05 (CN)

09:00 – 09:05 (UK)

10:00 – 10:05 (BE)

17:00 – 17:05 (CN)

09:00 – 09:05 (UK)

10:00 – 10:05 (BE)

17:00 – 17:05 (CN)

Speaker:

Mark Xu is the Sector Lead for Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation (AMT) at China Britain Business Council (CBBC) for the past three years. He has spent over twelve years in an UK engineering company before taking up his current position at CBBC to provide support and consultation to UK manufacturing companies in entering the Chinese market. Mark is bilingual in Chinese and English, has a BEng in Manufacturing Engineering and BCom in Commerce from the University of Birmingham, an MBA from Business School Netherlands and is a Certified Financial Analyst.