China’s EVs at the Paris Auto Show

Chinese car makers at the Paris Auto Show claim their technology is what sets them apart from their European rivals.   CGTN’s Ross Cullen reports.

Transcript

00:00The presence of Chinese cars on European roads has been accelerating, and there is certainly

00:06no shortage of brands from China at the Paris Auto Show. But from next month, the EU will

00:12introduce new taxes on China-made electric vehicles. Some Chinese car makers are now

00:17considering local production. By manufacturing EVs in Europe, they would not be liable for

00:22the new duties. Some firms are already expanding here, and believe they are uniquely placed

00:28to overtake established names.

00:31Through its technology and through its investment in R&D, you must know that we have more than

00:38100,000 engineers. So basically, we are having 15 patterns approved every day of the week.

00:46Registration of China-built electric vehicles totaled 3.5% of the EU market in 2020. That

00:52rose to 27% in the second quarter of this year. That's good news for Chinese firms,

00:58but the EU wants to protect its domestic car makers, which have been picking up punctures

01:04recently. Car sales in China for Germany's BMW and MINI, a British brand it owns, fell

01:1030% last quarter. German combustion models used to dominate the market in Beijing, Shanghai

01:16and Guangzhou. But EVs and plug-in hybrids now make up more than half of car sales in

01:22China.

01:23We can see competitors. We have many competitors here on the Paris Motor Show, and they are

01:28offering new electric cars. Really interesting for the market with lower prices, with smaller

01:36cars as well, and it's really interesting.

01:40Despite the huge number of chargeable cars making their debut here, EU countries are

01:45starting to phase out customer incentives to go green.

01:49While consumers are still buying electric cars, growth is slowing down, coinciding with

01:54a rapid shift to EVs from market rivals like China.

01:58Ross Cullen, CGTN, Paris.