Comment on BYD’s hybrid EV ute that could rival Australia’s bestselling vehicles goes on sale
hanrahan@slrpnk.net 2 weeks agoIndeed, this in the FT yesterday
If Europe wants to see how Chinese manufacturers could affect its all-important car industry, it could do worse than look to Norway. Fully 94 per cent of cars sold in the Nordic country in October were electric, putting it on course to hit a target of no new fossil-fuel passenger vehicles next year.
Chinese carmakers sold no cars in Norway in 2019; this year so far, they have managed to take 11 per cent market share. Brands such as MG, BYD and Xpeng are common sights on Norwegian streets. Perhaps most telling is that Oslo’s main shopping strip Karl Johans Gate has only one car dealership on it: Nio, a relatively new Chinese brand.
The US and EU have sought to stem the rise of Chinese electric cars with tariffs, but Norway has pointedly refused to follow suit.