🧔♂️ A friendly human may check it before it goes live. More news here
Chinese EV makers eye S Korea growth as oil risks rise: report
Oil price uncertainty linked to tensions around the Strait of Hormuz could speed up global demand for EVs and hybrids, and help Chinese automakers expand overseas, including in South Korea, Citic Securities reported.
Chinese brands are pushing into foreign markets as competition intensifies at home, while BYD sold 1,664 vehicles in South Korea in March after entering the market in January 2025.
Chinese EV makers have gained ground in Europe and Southeast Asia, but South Korea remains a tougher market, due in part to strong competition from established automakers such as Hyundai and Kia.
Citic said plug-in hybrids may see faster overseas sales growth than fully electric models, while limited charging infrastructure could slow broader expansion.
🔗 Source: The Korea Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Europe’s trade defense complicates China’s global EV push
- Chinese automakers’ growth in Europe has sparked pushback from regulators 1.
- The European Union has added countervailing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles after a European Commission investigation found broad state support for China’s EV industry 1.
- Provisional duties run from 17.4% for cooperating firms such as BYD to 38.1% for non-cooperating firms such as SAIC, a Chinese state-owned automaker, on top of the EU’s standard 10% car import duty 2.
- Chinese-built EV share in the EU climbed from 3.5% in 2020 to 27.2% of all EVs sold in the EU in the second quarter of 2024 1.
Chinese EV makers pivot strategy as trade tensions rise
- Plug-in hybrids could soften the hit from Europe’s trade barriers for Chinese automakers 3.
- Chinese EV brands doubled EU market share over the past year, helped by a fourfold jump in plug-in hybrid (PHEV) exports that bypass the tariffs 3.
- Some Chinese automakers are shifting more work into Europe to avoid import duties, with BYD expanding an electric bus plant in Hungary and Chery investing in a large research and development center linked to its existing Spain investment 3.
- EU governments remain split, with Hungary opposing the tariffs while Germany’s leaders have raised concerns and pushed for talks over more trade limits 1.
- Beijing has answered with trade probes of EU goods, including an anti-dumping probe into EU pork and anti-dumping investigations into EU brandy 1.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.