Chinese electric vehicle ( EV ) manufacturers are working ahead with their plans to expand production in Europe to fend off potential tariffs that the EU might impose.
Yin Tongyue, president of Chéri Automobile, announced on Sunday that his business would soon buy an old factory in Barcelona, Spain, and convert it into its second European factory. He said the opening of the hospital, which stopped running in 2021, may produce 1,600 work.
He claimed that Chery is mulling collaborations with two German companies, with the goal of a soon-closed deal. According to Chinese media, Chery is speaking with Stellantis, the European automaker that owns Fiat, Chrysler, and Peugeot.
An official agreement to start producing Chery in Spain will become formalized in the forthcoming days, according to the Spanish Industry Ministry.
There have n’t been any updates on Chery’s progress in contacting the Italian government regarding the construction of a factory there.
The number of the company’s exported vehicles increased by 40 in the first third of this year. 9 % year-on-year to 253,418 products. The business is currently concentrating on areas in Russia, the Middle East, and Spain, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom after this month.
Important Chinese EV manufacturers have even got manufacturing ideas in Europe. Next December, the Shenzhen-based BYD said it will create a passenger car manufacturer in Szeged, Hungary. It stated that the center, which will have an innovative car production line, will be the first of its kind to be constructed in Europe by a Chinese automaker.
In a statement released last year, Great Wall Motor stated that it was considering whether to set up its earliest Western grow in Germany, Hungary, or the Czech Republic.
Despite the fact that the UK has now left the European Union, SAIC Motor Corp said it was thinking about starting a grow there.
The Beijing-based China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCME), a business organization with a presence in Beijing, claimed that the 13-month research launched by the European Union next September against Chinese EV manufacturers is inconsequential and violates international trading regulations.
CCCME Vice President Shi Yonghong expressed his concern that the conclusions of the EU investigation into Chinese EV exports had become distorted and unintended during a reading with the European Commission in Brussels on April 11.
According to Shi, the European Commission had deliberately focused on three Chinese-owned suppliers before reaching set findings of subsidy, instead of choosing the best Chinese EV manufacturers for study, such as BYD, Geely, and SAIC.
He claimed that the whole investigation process has been ruined by the biased sample selection. He added that the investigation avoided pursuing action against the US$ 400 billion in incentives provided by the US government and the EU’s billions of dollars in grants provided to the EV and power areas.
According to a spokesman for the European Commission, the research and its findings would abide by all international and International obligations. He said the EC will make sure this anti-subsidy research is complete, fair and fact-based.
Effects of tariffs
Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, announced on Sunday that the US would no “anything off the board ” in response to China’s production ability, including the possibility of additional taxes to stop the influx of cheap Chinese goods into the US marketplace. She finished her six-day trip to China on April 9.
We are concerned about potential spikes in Chinese imports to our industry in regions with a lot of overcapacity, She said.
She claimed she has informed Taiwanese authorities that the overcapacity issue in China poses a threat to both the US and other nations and regions, including Europe and Japan, as well as emerging markets like India, Mexico and Brazil.
Due to the addition of another 2 to the normal 2 tariffs, the Trump administration has added an additional 25 % to the Chinese market. Chinese battery and EV companies found it very challenging to develop their US markets due to a 5 % tariff in 2019.
In an effort to avoid the additional 25 % price, they turned to Mexico, which signed a free trade agreement with the US and Canada in 2018. However, Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, stated last month that if he wins the election, he will establish a 100 % tax on Chinese vehicles made in Mexico.
In the event that the Union imposes additional tariffs on Vehicles made in China later this month, Chinese automakers are then accelerating their plans to isolate their manufacturing capacity in Europe.
According to Transport &;, about one in five Vehicles sold in Europe last year were produced in China. Environment ( T& E), a Brussels-based non-profit firm. The percentage is anticipated to increase to about 25 % in 2024.
More than half of Taiwanese imports into Europe are also western companies, such as Tesla, Dacia and BMW, T& E says– but Chinese manufacturers, including SAIC’s MG, Geely’s Polestar and BYD, could accomplish 11 % of the German EV industry in 2024 and 20 % in 2027, up from about 7. 5 % last year.
According to Julia Poliscanova, senior producer for cars and e-mobility supply chains at T&,” Tariffs may force carmakers to locate Automotive manufacturing in Europe,”” We want these work and skills,” she said. E. However, tariffs wo n’t protect traditional carmakers for long. ”
She suggested that in addition to the agreed 100 % clear car goal of 2035, a higher price should be accompanied by a regulatory push to boost local production of electric vehicles, including electricity targets for business car ships by 2039.
No dumping
European Economic Minister Robert Habeck welcomed the decision after Western Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen made the announcement that an investigation into unfair Chinese rivals in the EV market was being conducted on September 13.
However, on September 28, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that he was not convinced that Taiwanese electric vehicles had to be tariffed. He claimed that Germany may also opened its market to foreign companies because it wants to sell its cars everywhere in the world.
He told Foreign pupils in Shanghai that Germany wants open and fair car industry during a trip to China on Monday. If there is good competition, no dumping, overproduction, or copyright infringement, Taiwanese cars will still be available in Germany and Europe at some point, he said.
According to the MarkLines Data Center, German manufacturers sold 462,720 cars in China next month, up 3. 8 % from 2022. About 17 people made up their part of the total. 8 % of the Chinese businesses.
1 Chinese manufacturers sold 46 million domestic cars, or 56 percent. 2 % market share. In China, there were 382,900 cars sold under the Chinese brand, with a 14th. 7 % market share.
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