What the Asian plans of the Chinese electric car manufacturers mean for the world

Chinese electric car manufacturers are not only attacking in Europe and their home market of China. Danger threatens the established car manufacturers from the West, especially in Southeast Asia. Where the German manufacturers are not very present, Chinese companies are building factories across the board and are looking for partners in order to expand quickly in the Asian boom regions.

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However, Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota, who have dominated the markets in the region to date, are directly affected. But ultimately the German manufacturers will also feel the effects. Because if the Chinese manufacturers are successful in Asia, they can build up large production capacities for electric cars. This, in turn, would allow them to attack more heavily in Europe with lower unit costs.

Japanese expert Koji Endo, head of analysis at SBI Securities, spotted the possibility this spring when he visited the Bangkok International Motor Show in Thailand. Before the pandemic, the Japanese would have dominated the fair, now it’s the Chinese, he says. “I was shocked that BYD from China had the largest booth.” He already fears for the dominance of the Japanese. “Having seen the auto show, I think that could change quickly in the next five years.”

Late Japanese offensive in electric cars

One reason for his concern is that Japanese manufacturers are only now beginning their electric car offensives. In addition, they may try to meet local demand with exports from other electric car factories in Japan or other markets. The Chinese manufacturers are now using Japan’s deficit in electric cars in a targeted manner to present themselves to customers and governments in Southeast Asia as partners for the future.

Japan has always tried everything possible with electronics – and often the impossible. Every Thursday our author Martin Kölling reports on the latest trends from Japan and neighboring countries.

Of the approximately one million electric cars that China exported in the first half of the year, almost 40 percent went to Asian countries. In the future, the Chinese also want to serve this market potential from local factories in order to be faster and to become politically more attractive as an investor and employer.

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The world’s largest electric car manufacturer BYD has already announced a factory in Thailand and has the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia for another plant. China’s largest auto group SAIC is building an industrial park for auto parts in Thailand that could become the nucleus of a larger Chinese auto cluster.

Key locations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand

The state-owned company Chery, on the other hand, announced in July that it was planning its own car factories for combustion engines and electric cars in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. And something is also happening with key components such as batteries. The Chinese battery manufacturer EVE is investing more than 400 million dollars in a battery factory in Malaysia. Its batteries are initially intended to power power tools and motorcycles. But the government hopes that this will become the battery basis for electric car production in the region. The race in Asia could thus become a decisive factor in the global offensive by Chinese manufacturers.

(jl)

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