Chinese EV dominance hastens end of petrol engine era
This year's Shanghai Auto Show signaled the end of the petrol engine era in China, as domestic electric vehicle brands drive change across the sector and leave foreign companies in the dust, analysts and industry insiders said.
Government support for EVs and growing interest from a vast consumer base has assured Chinese companies' dominance of their home market, the world's largest -- and they are now beginning to set their sights overseas.
Shanghai has shown Chinese brands "can compete with all of the legacy automakers in every way -- performance, quality, comfort, there's nothing they can't do", said EV specialist Elliot Richards, joking he had seen "a lot of worried-looking German men wandering around".
"I think this show marks the end of the internal combustion engine and the beginning of the EV era," he added.
EV companies are well aware they are closing in on their fossil-fuelled predecessors.
"We regard high-end petrol vehicles such as BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi as our main competitors," William Li, CEO of the "Chinese Tesla" Nio, told AFP.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, electric vehicles made up a quarter of car sales in the country in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 94 percent.
Despite a downturn across the global auto sector, Li said he thought EVs' market share in China could increase to over 40 percent this year.
In Shanghai, dozens of new models were on display from new and legacy carmakers alike.
"The future is very much here now," Mike Johnstone, a top executive at British luxury brand Lotus, told AFP.
"There's a lot of proliferation of electrified products (in China), and it's changing the entire market."
- 'Head start' -
China has dedicated huge resources to the industry.
"They
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