In a recent study by Ernst & Young on the international electric and hybrid car market in the United States, Europe, China and Japan, China came up in top-ranking position: 60% of Chinese motorists claim to be ready and willing to buy an electric car, compared to 22% in Europe.
With a total of 13.64 million vehicles sold in 2009, the country already boasts the world's leading motor vehicle market. And the arrival of electric cars is sure to prove a further growth engine and a noteworthy source of competitiveness. Benjamin Asher, an analyst for the marketing firm J.D. Power is convinced, "volume is such that China can hope to meet its critical mass and, consequently, reduce its costs; Beijing is hoping to find a competitive advantage in the electric vehicle market with the ultimate aim of exporting its products."
Both economic and ecological stakes
In an interview for the site Cleantech Republic, Alain Foucaud, an associate lawyer for Taylor Wessing and business consultant in clean technologies, reminds us that "2,000 new cars enter Beijing every day". Hence, sustainable mobility and, more generally, clean technologies are "vital sectors" for the country.
Notions that contribute towards a particularly voluntarist policy for deploying electric vehicles. Since 1st June 2010, the incentive for a hybrid vehicle has been brought to 50,000 Yuans (£4,750) and to 60,000 Yuans (£5,698) for the purchase of a totally electric car. Tested in several cities, these financial enticements should enable electric cars to reach a 15% share of total vehicle sales.
And the strategy is of importance, since price remains the determining factor for 31% of Chinese motorists, according to a TNS Sofres Survey on motivations and barriers to electric vehicle purchasing.
China would therefore appear to be emerging as a promising market, hence ever-increasing interest from the industry. Following the American manufacturer, General Motors, recently established in Shanghai, a research centre dedicated to electric mobility, the GM China Advanced Technical Center is currently under construction.
China, the world's key player in the electric vehicle market? Watch this spot… for mass deployment of electric vehicles is just round the corner… in 2011.
