Will China Grow Into World’s Top E-Car Manufacturer?
© AFP 2017/ PETER PARKS
World
20:32 09.12.2017(updated 20:34 09.12.2017)
Having sold well over 500,000 electric cars last year, which amounts to roughly half of global sales, China is gaining leadership in the global e-car market, Sputnik China wrote.
The sales index around the country has recently skyrocketed by a staggering 120 percent, which in a way can be explained by the fact that China is likely to gain a monopoly in producing the key resource in e-car manufacturing – lithium, the lightest of all metals. China currently accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s supply, obviously striving for more. To this end, China’s top car manufacturer, Great Wall Motors, purchased shares of Pilbara Minerals, the Australian lithium producer. Earlier China’s Ganfeng Lithium bought 20 percent of Lithium Americas, Argentina’s biggest lithium supplier.
Having failed to outrun the world’s top car manufactures, namely the USA and Japan, back in the 2000s, China is pinning hopes on the e-car market and stepping up efforts to boost lithium supplies, the key component in e-car battery manufacturing.
In March 2017, the Chinese State Council had outlined strategic goals dubbed "Made in China 2025" so as to give e-car manufacturing top priority at the expense of the conservative ICE market, keeping up with a range of developed countries like the Netherlands, Britain and Norway.
The Chinese e-car market is thriving indeed, showing impressive results, mostly thanks to state subsidies. For instance, hybrid car buyers are offered as much as $4,500 as compensation, whereas new e-car owners are handed around $8,400. The license plates are issued free of charge, whereas one has to participate in an auction to get one for a standard car.
The stimulating measures proved effective; without them, the market is sure to go dead, said Wang Zhimin, the director of the Research Institute of Globalization and China's Modernization.
© AFP 2017/ PETER PARKS
World
20:32 09.12.2017(updated 20:34 09.12.2017)
Having sold well over 500,000 electric cars last year, which amounts to roughly half of global sales, China is gaining leadership in the global e-car market, Sputnik China wrote.
The sales index around the country has recently skyrocketed by a staggering 120 percent, which in a way can be explained by the fact that China is likely to gain a monopoly in producing the key resource in e-car manufacturing – lithium, the lightest of all metals. China currently accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s supply, obviously striving for more. To this end, China’s top car manufacturer, Great Wall Motors, purchased shares of Pilbara Minerals, the Australian lithium producer. Earlier China’s Ganfeng Lithium bought 20 percent of Lithium Americas, Argentina’s biggest lithium supplier.
Having failed to outrun the world’s top car manufactures, namely the USA and Japan, back in the 2000s, China is pinning hopes on the e-car market and stepping up efforts to boost lithium supplies, the key component in e-car battery manufacturing.
In March 2017, the Chinese State Council had outlined strategic goals dubbed "Made in China 2025" so as to give e-car manufacturing top priority at the expense of the conservative ICE market, keeping up with a range of developed countries like the Netherlands, Britain and Norway.
The Chinese e-car market is thriving indeed, showing impressive results, mostly thanks to state subsidies. For instance, hybrid car buyers are offered as much as $4,500 as compensation, whereas new e-car owners are handed around $8,400. The license plates are issued free of charge, whereas one has to participate in an auction to get one for a standard car.
The stimulating measures proved effective; without them, the market is sure to go dead, said Wang Zhimin, the director of the Research Institute of Globalization and China's Modernization.
