CHINA has spotted a window period, maybe once in a century, which, if tapped properly, can boost the country’s electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing to a new height and help define the global EV market, an industry insider told Xinhua in Detroit, US Midwest state of Michigan, at the end of October.
“China is now defining the (EV) market, which the United States has been failing to do and other manufacturers have no ability to do, let alone preserve such an ambition,” said Bill Zhuang, president and CEO of Angstrom Electric, a division of Angstrom Automotive Group, a leading tier 1 full-service supplier for Automotive and Industrial OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer).
Due to sectoral deficits, the automotive-manufacturing “Big Three” of the United States, namely General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, have all slowed down their transition to EV production. Staff members were laid off and factories closed, a Photo taken on 6 July 2019 shows a production line at a subsidiary of Beijing Electric Vehicle Co Ltd (BJEV), a new energy vehicle producer, in Huanghua city of Cangzhou, north China’s Hebei Province. PHOTO: XINHUA sign of losing confidence in EV’s prospects. However, latecomer Tesla has made money in the past five years, thanks to its strong presence in the Chinese market.
“China prides itself on efficiency, which is now hard to find in the United States,” said Zhuang, recalling his September visit to over 10 EV manufacturers in China. “American manufacturers can give few marvels in the transmission system, interior and exterior design, customer experience and electric application, which are exactly the fields that their Chinese peers stand out.”
“And the most important thing with which China calls the shot is that a sound and full-dimension supply chain has been established within the country for making EVs in the past decade,” noted Zhuang, who moved from China to the United States in the 1990s and has spent the last four decades building his career across both countries, accumulating vast industry knowledge and experience.
For the vehicle industry, supply chain is the key term, he said, adding that US manufacturers have rushed to establish a complete supply chain within North America to avoid impacts such as tariffs on Chinese components and logistical delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they knew the rule too late.
Xinhua
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