European Carmakers Struggle to Catch Up with China's Lead on Electric Vehicles

A cutting-edge crop of Chinese auto firms are taking advantage of new emissions laws to make inroads into the European car market with competitively-priced electric vehicles. Now established marques are looking for ways to fight back.

European car manufacturers are struggling to close the gap with their Chinese competitors in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

The leading marques have their latest models on display at the IAA Mobility motor show in the German city of Munich this week.

Despite a wave of laws and regulations across the West incentivising electric and hybrid cars — while setting cut-off dates for new petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles — Chinese manufacturers are still a decade ahead of the likes of Mercedes and Peugeot.

"We have to close the gap on costs with some Chinese players that started on EVs a generation earlier," said Renault CEO Luca de Meo at the exhibition.

De Meo added that the French firm's new R5 model set to hit the forecourts in 2024 — an electric-powered throwback to the classic Renault 5 hatchback of the 70s and 80s — would be priced 25 to 30 percent lower than its current Scenic and Megane electric cars.

But that might not be enough to see off Chinese firms such as BYD, Nio and Xpeng which are targeting the European market, where sales of EVs rose by more than half last year to make up 13 per cent of new cars on the road.

The average price of an EV sold in China last year was under €32,000 ($34,500), compared to €56,000 ($60,500) in Europe.

The Chinese share of the European EV market has already doubled from four percent in 2021 to eight percent now, and two-fifths of the firms exhibiting at the car show this year are Asian.

"What used to be a performance for the German car industry to demonstrate its extremely strong position is now a meeting of equals between progressive players from around the world, especially China," said Fabian Brandt from the Oliver Wyman consultancy firm.

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

One of the major costs in producing EVs is the large batteries needed to power them — especially as the price of the alkali metal lithium needed to make them has increased more than four-fold in recent years.

Like Renault, German automotive giant Volkswagen — which owns Spain's Seat and the Czech Republic's Skoda — has also played on nostalgia with its new ID Buzz minivan, an EV mimicking the classic rear-engined camper.

VW group CEO Oliver Blume said the company was partnering with Chinese firms to halve the cost of battery production.

"We will have to work hard on the cost side," said Blume.