Sales of China-made electric cars in Europe went up by 23% over the first four months of the year despite efforts by EU authorities to set up barriers for these imports in a bid to protect local manufacturers.
Some 119,300 electric cars manufactured in China were registered in Western Europe, including the UK, between January and April this year, the Financial Times reported, citing data compiled by Schmidt Automotive Research. Over half of these, or 54%, were vehicles of Western European brands as well as Teslas and Japanese-brand EVs. The rest were Chinese EV brands.
"[Carmakers] keep churning out vehicles from China as it gives the best opportunity to make a profit on an electrical vehicle at the moment," Matthias Schmidt, the founder of the firm, told the FT.
The surge in Chinese EV exports to Europe had local authorities worried about the competitiveness of local carmakers who have yet to figure out how to make their EVs both reliable and cheap.
To prevent any adverse effects from the Chinese imports, Brussels launched an investigation into the Chinese EV industry alleging unfair subsidies. That investigation led to a 19% decline in Chinese EV exports to the EU over the first two months of the year, data showed in March.
The findings of the investigation, which is expected to be completed by the autumn of 2024, will "establish whether it is in the EU's interest to remedy the effects of the unfair trade practices found by imposing anti-subsidy duties on imports of battery electric vehicles from China," the European Commission said at the time.
In addition to the investigation, the EU is considering slapping a 20% tariff on Chinese EVs, which would cost China close to $4 billion in lost sales. However, it would also cost European EV buyers, the Kiel Institute for World Economy warned in late May. Currently, the import tariff on Chinese EVs is 10%.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More