BUSINESS CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, February 8, 2021 Listen to wife to be in top gear as car-buyer REPORTER’S LOG By Li Fusheng overing the auto industry in China as a business jour- C nalist, you might imagine, must be an exciting job, given that the country has been the world’s largest vehicle market since 2009. Auto journalism sure is as excit- ing as the latest snazzy, sexy, smart car models. Only, it could all over- stimulate your senses as industry news breaks pop up as if they were wild mushrooms. From launch of new models to setting up of new car plants to announcement of new partner- ships to … it could all get heady, hectic and humongous, driving you nuts (see, some autonomous algo- rithm in the mind could even charge up your vocabulary with the new energy of auto-related verbs and adjectives). Potential buyers check out the Tesla Model Y, a fully electric sport utility vehicle made in China, at a shopping mall in Beijing on Jan 9. Total deliveries of electric cars and That said, I have to admit the job plug-in hybrids in China reached nearly 1.37 million in 2020, up almost 11 percent year-on-year. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY is becoming demanding, even chal- lenging. That’s because the evolu- tion of the sector has acquired dimensions of a revolution, as it shifts gears toward electric models. Car journalists, therefore, are Largest market for EVs is on a roll forced to learn new tricks and broaden their ken. For example, compared with Toyota and GM, Automakers, tech firms vie to make Tesla and Nio are more sought-after among industry journalists, and next-gen vehicles smarter, cleaner invitations to their product launch- es are almost coveted, and regarded By LI FUSHENG China started to develop the NEV a status symbol among peers. [email protected] sector since 2009, with the help of As if that were not enough, now government subsidies, in order to Baidu and Apple are going to make Volkswagen AG, the world’s sec- reduce dependence on gasoline and cars. And they will build them as ond-largest carmaker by sales, is to alleviate air pollution. Transport the largest personal mobile smart planning to ship an electric sport accounts for roughly 14 percent of devices. Engines and transmissions utility vehicle (SUV) model, called carbon emissions, according to data are no longer the buzzwords you the ID.4, to its Chinese dealers after from the European Environment hear during interviews with indus- Spring Festival. Agency. try hotshots. “Mileage anxiety” and That would mark VW’s first major In 2015, China overtook the Unit- “energy density of batteries” have salvo in the race for lead in the new ed States to become the world’s already become passe. energy vehicle (NEV) sector in Chi- largest market for such vehicles and “Chips” and “TOPS” (tera opera- na, the global automobile industry’s has held the title for six years in a tions per second) are in as autono- biggest market. row. Last year, total deliveries of mous driving speeds up. (Come on The model, with different vari- electric cars and plug-in hybrids hit now! I chose English as my major ants, is developed on a dedicated nearly 1.37 million, up 10.9 percent because I was not good at math and electric vehicle (EV) platform that from 2019, despite the COVID-19 computers.) the carmaker is counting on to shake pandemic, according to the China With that confession in the boot, off the emissions-cheating scandal Association of Automobile Manu- let me change lanes and reveal a and complete the transition from facturers. personal pain point. My wife com- internal combustion engine vehicles They accounted for 5.4 percent of plained bitterly the other day that if to electric ones. total vehicle sales in the country. only I had paid heed to her back in In China, the carmaker has built Analysts said a sector is expected to Consumers admire the all-electric Nio EP9 at the 2020 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition on 2017, our life situation would have two new plants for the platform with grow independently when its mar- Oct 4. JU HUANZONG / XINHUA been different today. local partners, with construction on ket share reaches 5 percent. It transpires she had told me to one of them taking two years and The association estimated their register my name in the waiting list costing 17 billion yuan ($2.6 billion). sales figure to reach 1.8 million this The vast potential has piqued the for Beijing’s NEV license plates. Another plant is scheduled to join in year. The State Council, the country’s interest of investors. Companies in Had I complied, I’d have received 2023. Cabinet, expects NEVs to account for the NEV industry raised a combined my plate by now. Alas! Luck had These are part of its efforts to sell one-fifth of total car sales in 2025. 129.21 billion yuan last year, accord- evaded me for years in the lottery 1.5 million NEVs a year in China by Over the past few years of fast ing to Qcc, an enterprise credit rat- for gasoline car plates. 2025. By the same year, over one- development, the segment has ing system. That was the first time So, why was I so disobedient and third of its vehicles available in the grown already to a state of fierce that the sector’s annual financing unwise? Well, much as I’d like to Chinese market will be NEVs. competition and glowing vitality, exceeded 100 billion yuan and claim expertise in my beat, I’ve to Stephan Woellenstein, CEO of fueled by the financial stimuli, new marked a surge of 159.4 percent over make another confession: my knowl- Volkswagen Group China, the local products and favorable license plate the 2019 level. edge of the electric vehicle sector’s subsidiary, said the company is eye- policies in big cities. The bright prospects for the development wasn’t optimal then. ing a share in the country’s NEV seg- Yet, before the arrival of products booming sector are attracting Back then, EVs had short driving ment, similar to the size it has from established international car- The Volkswagen ID.4 X and ID.4 Crozz electric SUVs attract poten- technology companies to jump on ranges and none of the internation- secured in the gasoline market. Last makers like VW, popular models tial buyers at the third China International Import Expo in Shang- the EV bandwagon as well. Baidu al carmakers had such offerings in year, its sales accounted for 19.3 per- were usually low-end ones and pre- hai on Nov 6. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY and Alibaba, investors in Chinese the country. cent of China’s total passenger vehi- mium ones. EV startups such as Xpeng and I recall thinking at that time that cle sales. One example is a two-seater with a WM Motor, are now trying their squandering a journalist’s hard- The NEV goal will continue to price tag starting from 28,800 yuan ing its website temporarily. making electric vehicles compared hand at car-making, believing earned money on an EV that would make China the company’s largest and a driving range of 120-170 kilo- “If you place an order now (in Jan- with international ones, are seizing their expertise in AI and big data not roll for 200 kilometers in win- source of revenue and profit and meters. The model, from Wuling, a uary), it would be delivered in the the opportunity to improve their can improve onboard infotain- try Beijing didn’t seem like a smart help reach the group’s goal to Chinese brand, is the second one af- second quarter,” said Wang Muchen, branding and products. ment functions. thing to do. Little did I imagine that become carbon-neutral by 2050. ter Tesla’s Model 3 to reach monthly a Tesla China representative. BJEV, the new energy arm of In December, Baidu announced it within two to three years, cars Many carmakers are fined or buy sales of over 30,000 units in the Chinese EV startups such as Nio State-owned BAIC Group, has estab- will build a stand-alone car compa- would be smarter, long-haul, pow- carbon credits each year, especially country. and Li Auto, both listed in the Unit- lished a brand called Arcfox, whose ny to produce and market passenger erful, cleaner, and full of pizzazz. in Europe, if/when they fail to reach Shao Jie, an executive at Wuling, ed States, are selling vehicles at even model sells at a starting price of vehicles that will feature its Apollo A lesson was learned the hard emission standards. said the vehicle’ prices and ease of higher prices. 241,900 yuan, basically the level of autonomous system as well as other way, gentlemen. Between feeling Last month, Volkswagen said it use have made it popular. William Li, Nio founder and chair- Tesla’s Model 3. core technologies. confident about your expertise and missed EU targets on emissions “For example, some people are not man, said its vehicles’ average price GAC Motor’s Aion sees Tesla as its “China has become the world’s your better half’s instinct, always — from its passenger car fleet last year experienced drivers, and big cars are is above 400,000 yuan. It sold 43,728 rival as well. Aion President Gu largest market for electric vehicles, always — let the latter drive you and would face a fine of more than sort of intimidating.