Chinese carmakers eye more European sales with high quality EVs

Chinese electric vehicle makers have set their sights on winning over European drivers and large corporate customers with more affordable cars that come with top safety ratings and lots of high-tech features, Reuters reported on Monday.

In the last few months, several Chinese EVs have received five-star European New Car Assessment Program ratings - an achievement that requires vehicles with active and passive safety features far beyond legal requirements.

Chinese EV makers have recognized that safety plays an incredibly important part of the sales process, said Matthew Avery, director at Thatcham Research, a British car research center funded by insurers and a Euro NCAP board member. 

Reuters said high safety ratings also open up the potentially huge corporate car fleet market for Chinese EV makers.

Fleet sales make up about half of all car sales in major markets including Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and many corporate buyers put a premium on safety.

"Fleet sales are very important and a lot of fleets have a mandatory five-star rating for buying cars," Avery said.

What's more, many fleets want to switch to EVs fast to meet sustainability goals. But corporate fleets have struggled to get enough EVs in Europe as supply chain issues have pushed waiting times for some models to more than 12 months.

High demand for electric cars amid supply chain shortages has allowed European carmakers to raise EV prices and focus more on retail clients, rather than customers such as car rental firms that have traditionally been less profitable for them.

That has created a window of opportunity for Chinese EV makers.

In October, for instance, German car rental company Sixt said it would buy about 100,000 EVs from BYD.

French auto consultancy Inovev said about 155,000 Chinese-made cars were sold in Europe in the first nine months of 2022. Almost half were EVs, giving them a 5.8 percent share of Europe's fully-electric vehicle market.

Inovev vice-president Jamel Taganza said all Chinese cars sold in Europe would be EVs within a few years, with more lower-cost models on the way.

By 2030, Inovev estimates EVs will make up 40 percent of Europe's new car sales and that Chinese brands will represent between 12.5 percent and 20 percent of that fully-electric market, with sales between 725,000 and 1.16 million vehicles.

"This is a conservative forecast," Taganza said, “but it could increase more rapidly, especially if European carmakers do not answer the needs in Europe of affordable EVs”.