China to Lead the Global Motor Vehicle Market

On Dec.13, the Intelligent Electric Vehicle Summit Forum was held in Shanghai. Fu Bingfeng, the executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said during the conference that China will become the largest motor vehicle owner in the world by the end of 2020.

As of today, the country has 275 million cars and its market size is roughly equal to that of the United States. In Fu’s view, it is entirely possible that the number of cars per 1,000 people will rise to 300 or even 350, and the total sales volume will reach 30 to 35 million by next year. 

The number of drivers touched 440 million by June 2020, 7.28 million of them having just obtained licenses this year, according to China’s Ministry of Public Security.

China’s new energy vehicles (NEV) market has been a major bright spot amid the global industry downturn.

During the conference, Shen Hui, the founder of the Chinese electric car startup Weimar Motors, claimed: “China has accounted for 44% of the world’s new energy vehicles and the NEV era has arrived.”

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The pandemic and the extension of financial subsidies for NEV has fostered a rebound for the Chinese car market. By 2025, the sales of new energy vehicles will reach about 5.42 million, according to IDC. 

China is seeing rapid developments in the market for innovative vehicles. Thanks to infrastructure like charging pile and the 5G network, NEV could well enjoy endless possibilities.

According to Tianyancha, the country has nearly 100,000 enterprises somehow connected with the charging pile business, working on piles and new energy-intelligent charging. They are mainly concentrated in Guangdong, Shandong, and Jiangsu provinces, with Guangdong accounting for 16% of the country’s charging pile businesses. (More than 15000 related enterprises are based in the province.) 

Shen believes that automation and digitalization will be the next steps for the global NEV market, with autonomous driving becoming popular in the future. The penetration rate of NEV is currently 51.6%, and it is expected to reach 100% in 2029.

By 2025, NEV’s electricity consumption efficiency could reach 12 kWh per hundred kilometers. Meanwhile, autonomous driving’s tests in special scenarios will be completed, ensuring extra safety for “hands-off” control, according to the state council’s New Energy Vehicle Development Plan 2021- 2035.

The NEV revolution may not be confined to the domestic market, with Chinese electric vehicle brands likely to expand into the global market.