From the irruption of the first electric vehicles, to the present day, where it is already common to see models that renounce combustion on the streets of Spanish cities, the shadow of the arrival of Chinese electric cars has been there. Well, they have arrived.
While Tesla took the throne and the first bets of the European and North American brands appeared, in the Asian giant a wide inventory of brands and complicated to follow, it grew offering its citizens more and more options. The promise of their arrival in Europe was clear: they could lower prices.
Let’s briefly review how we got here. But, first, let’s see which Chinese brands have already set foot in Europe and Europe.
Picking up old brands and placing new ones: this is how Chinese electric cars are landing
The first thing to keep in mind is that in China there are large manufacturers that until recently were unknown in the West, but that led the list of world sales along with the big European and American names.
BYD, SAIC, Chery or Geely are any of them. Now, to Europe, some of these big brands have opted to enter with the names of old houses that they bought in low hours.
For example, SAIC is already selling in Spain under the MG brand of British origin. Geely has done it with Polestarbrand that belonged to the Volvo group, which in turn acquired in 2010 as well. Link & Co, the company that promotes the rental and car sharing which is already arriving in some Spanish cities, is also majority owned by Geely, which also sells the small Invicta in Spain, the cheapest models of Chinese origin.
Other giants such as BYD, also a benchmark in the battery market, have yet to arrive in Spain, although it is expected to do so in the coming months.
Chinese car prices: not everything is so cheap
At the price level, your arrival is covered by the MOVES III Plan, with aid of up to 7,000 euros with the scrapping of a previous vehicle.
Thus, we can find models like the MG4 for less than 30,000 euros with aid included. Last year the European version of the Wuling HongGuang also arrived and will be available soon in Spain. The small electric car would be sold for less than 9,000 euros, but it is a very limited version that is only valid as a vehicle in the city.
However, models for larger pockets will also arrive. Xpeng is going to bring its P7 model to Spain in two versions, a rear-wheel drive for 64,000 euros and a more powerful 4×4 for 72,400 euros.
How did we get here
Beijing has managed to get here thanks to an aid policy, combustion mobility restrictions, and the imposition on foreign brands of having to ally with their factories and local brands by obligation to be able to sell in your market. This latter movement has come to be branded as a formula for appropriating patents and industrial knowledge.
But although this seems to indicate that China has given a rudder change towards a more ecological and zero-emissions policy -which also- the truth is that behind it is a much more earthly plan: to completely dominate the manufacture and sale of electric vehicles and , almost more importantly, its batteries.
Surely, at this point, we are wondering why, with such an automotive muscle, Chinese cars have been seen so little outside their own country until now. In Latin America some brands like Chery they have already achieved their market share, but in Europe and the United States they are practically non-existent. What happens to them then?
The short answer might be that China has so far been self-sufficient in supplying demand for its factories. The largest market in the world buys 25 million cars every year, more than a third of the world total. Now is when they also go for markets like ours.