Booming EV Market

On September 9, 2017, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced it will phase out the production and sale of vehicles powered only by traditional fuels in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). China began developing vehicles powered by clean energy in 2009 when a string of industrial policies backed by subsidies was introduced. The Made in China 2025 manufacturing plan named EVs one of China’s key development sectors. According to Global EV Outlook 2017, a report by the International Energy Agency, EV sales in China accounted for 32 percent of the global total for 2016, making China their largest market. Despite this, China’s EV industry remains weak when it comes to auto body design, technological innovation, management and crucially, battery development. The market is predicted to continue growing but it will be a significant challenge for domestic brands to overtake overseas competitors.