[ad_1]
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers are moving forward with plans to increase production capacity in Europe to avoid possible tariffs imposed by the European Union.
Chery Automobile President Yin Tongyue announced on Sunday that the company will soon purchase Nissan’s old factory in Barcelona, Spain and turn it into its first manufacturing base in Europe. He said 1,600 jobs could be created by reopening the facilities, which had ceased operations in 2021.
He said Chery Automobile is in talks to partner with two European brands, with one deal expected to be completed soon. According to Chinese media, Chery Automobile is in talks with Stellantis, the Italian auto conglomerate that owns Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot.
Spain’s Ministry of Industry said an agreement for Chery Automobile to start production in the country will be formalized within the next few days.
Chery Automobile is in talks with the Italian government about building a factory, but there is no latest information yet.
The company’s export volume in the first quarter of this year was 253,418 units, an increase of 40.9% from the same period last year. The company is currently focusing on markets in South America, the Middle East and Russia, with plans to expand into markets in Spain, Italy, Poland and the UK later this year.
Other major Chinese EV makers also have manufacturing plans in Europe. Last December, Shenzhen-based BYD announced that it would build a passenger car plant in Szeged, Hungary. The facility will be the first to be built by a Chinese car company in Europe and will feature an advanced car production line.
Great Wall Motors said last year that it was considering whether to locate its first European factory in Germany, Hungary or the Czech Republic.
SAIC Motor said that although the UK has already left the European Union (EU), it is considering setting up a factory in the country.
Meanwhile, the China Chamber of Import and Export of Mechanical and Electronic Products (CCCME), a Beijing-based industry group, said the 13-month investigation launched by the European Union into Chinese EV makers last September was not transparent. He said there was no investigation and the investigation was unclear. Violation of global trading rules.
At a European Commission hearing in Brussels on April 11, CCCME Vice-President Shi Yonghong said he was concerned that the results of the EU investigation into China’s EV imports were distorted and not objective. Stated.
Mr. Shi said that the European Commission has deviated from the principle of selecting China’s top EV manufacturers such as BYD, Geely Automobile and SAIC Motor for research, and has deliberately targeted three Chinese-owned manufacturers in order to reach a predetermined outcome regarding subsidies. He said that the focus seemed to be on the company.
He said biased sample selection was having a negative impact on the entire research process. He said the investigation would be difficult because the EU avoided taking any action on the $400 billion in subsidies granted by the US government and the billions of euros in subsidies the EU granted to the EV and battery sectors. It added that it was a perfect example of the EU’s double standards.
A European Commission spokesperson said the investigation and its results fully respect EU and international obligations. He said the EC will ensure that this anti-subsidy investigation is thorough, fair and fact-based.
Impact of tariffs
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who completed a six-day visit to China on April 9, told CNN on Sunday that the United States “will not take anything off the table” regarding China’s manufacturing capabilities. Cheap Chinese products will flow into the US market.
“We are concerned about the possibility of a surge in exports to the Chinese market in areas where there is significant overcapacity,” he said.
He said he has told Chinese authorities that China’s overcapacity issue is a concern not only for the United States but also for other countries and regions such as Europe and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as India, Mexico and Brazil. Ta.
Chinese EV and battery companies found it extremely difficult to tap into the U.S. market after the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on Chinese products in 2019 on top of the regular 2.5% tariff.
It then turned to building a factory in Mexico, which signed free trade agreements with the U.S. and Canada in 2018 to avoid additional 25% tariffs. However, Republican candidate Donald Trump said last month that if he wins the November presidential election, he would impose 100% tariffs on Chinese cars made in Mexico.
Chinese automakers are currently accelerating plans to localize production capacity in Europe in case the EU imposes additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs later this year.
About one in five electric vehicles sold in Europe last year was made in China, according to Transport and Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based non-profit organization. This figure he expects to increase to around 25% in 2024.
According to T&E, more than half of Chinese car imports to Europe are still Western brands such as Tesla, Dacia, and BMW, but Chinese brands including SAIC’s MG, Geely’s Polestar, and BYD will increase in 2024 and 2020. % of the European EV market could reach 11% by 2027, up from around 7.5% last year.
“Tariffs will force automakers to localize EV production in Europe, which is a good thing because we want these jobs and skills,” T&E Vehicle and E-Mobility Supply said Julia Poliskanova, senior director of chains. “But tariffs won’t protect traditional automakers for long.”
He said higher tariffs should be accompanied by a push for regulations to increase local production of EVs, including an electrification target for company cars by 2039, in addition to the agreed 100% clean car target by 2035. said.
Dumping prohibited
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck welcomed the decision after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an investigation into China’s unfair competition in the electric vehicle sector on September 13 last year.
However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on September 28 that he was not satisfied with the need to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs. He said Germany should open its market to foreign companies because it wants to sell cars everywhere in the world.
During a visit to China on Monday, he told Chinese students in Shanghai that Germany wants an open and fair car market. He said Chinese cars would one day remain in Germany and Europe if there was fair competition without dumping, overproduction or piracy.
The German automaker sold 462,720 cars in China last year, an increase of 3.8% compared to 2022, according to MarkLines Data Center. It accounted for approximately 17.8% of the Chinese market.
The Chinese brand sold 1.46 million units domestically, giving it a market share of 56.2%. The Japanese brand sold 382,900 units in China, giving it a market share of 14.7%.
Read: China blows back EU turbine probe
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter: @jeffpao3
[ad_2]
Source link
