Chinese EVs in hot demand globally

Tesla China has enjoyed a good start to this year, exporting 40,499 EVs (mainly Tesla Model 3s and Model Ys) and selling 19,346 in China.

That’s according to figures released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) which show Tesla China’s January wholesale figures reached 59,845 vehicles – a 286.5% year-over-year increase although a slight 15.5% drop on December 2021’s record results.

Teslarati  says Tesla China’s January 2022 results are “pretty impressive”.

It points out Gigafactory Shanghai is the company’s primary vehicle export hub (including to Australia and New Zealand), and Tesla aims to make it even more productive although 2022’s growth pace is likely to again be determined by some supply chain and logistics issues.

Gigafactory Shanghai is widely expected to produce about 1 million units in the next few years.

Meanwhile, China is likely to see massive global export growth for its automotive industry, especially EVs.

Overseas demand for Chinese vehicles has rocketed, China Daily reports.

It says the country’s auto vehicle exports doubled to a record 2.02 million in 2021 despite chip shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Great Wall Motors, for instance, plans to start operations in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore this year which will see its vehicles in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ eight member countries.

It’s already selling in Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand – the latter country having a plant that will serve as its Southeast Asia base.

The switch to electric power will see Great Wall Motors accelerate its overseas EV offerings, especially in Europe, including a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV and electric sedan as the first two models for Germany.

Great Wall Motors has said it will offer 10 electrified models in Brazil within three years after taking over a Daimler factory there.

SAIC Motor is stepping up overseas supply as well, its deliveries outside China reaching 598,000 units – major markets including Australia and New Zealand as well as Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

SAIC-GM-Wuling will sell its electric minicars in Indonesia from this year in the Chinese-US joint venture foray there.

China mainly aims to sell fully electric vehicles abroad, its EV start-ups included.

Nio, for example, plans to sell its EVs in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark this year with the aim of being in more than 25 countries by 2025.