EU launches investigation into combating mass arrival of Chinese electric vehicles in Europe

The European Union has launched an investigation to assess whether impose punitive tariffs on Chinese companies producing electric vehicles, given the wave of sales of cars from Asian manufacturers to the European market. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, claims that these companies are taking advantage of government subsidies to import their electric vehicles. And, thus, selling them cheaper than other local producers, thereby creating unfair competition with European producers.

The President of the European Commission, in particular, states that the electric vehicle industry is “crucial for a clean economy”, and “huge potential for Europe.” However, it should be noted that global markets “They are being flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars.”. AND “its price is kept artificially low by huge government subsidies.”

The European Commission will now assess whether within 13 months, whether it is worth introducing tariffs higher than in the EU, not only on those companies of Chinese origin that produce electric cars. Also to other companies producing cars in the Asian country. Thus, the European Union’s anti-subsidy investigation could also affect companies such as Tesla, Renault or BWM that manufacture some of their models in China or include components made in China, such as batteries.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce, for its part, stressed that he is against this investigationarguing that the benefits accruing to Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are not due to subsidies.

Electric car makers in Europe are looking for ways to protect themselves from Chinese brands

Meanwhile, Western car manufacturers looking for ways to reduce production costsn offer alternatives that are more or as economical as Chinese cars coming to Europe.

French Renault, for example, confirmed its intention in July last year reduce production costs by approximately 40% in order to protect themselves from Chinese manufacturers. However, they will begin to do this starting in 2027. This will likely lead to a significant drop in prices for electric vehicles produced after this date.

One of the latest Chinese electric vehicles to hit the European market is the BYD Seal. It is an alternative to the Model 3 and will go on sale in November starting at €46,900. One variant of this 100% electric sedan is the BYD xcellence-AWD (€48,990). This is about 1000 euros cheaper than the Model 3 Great Autonomy and also 5090 euros cheaper than the Performance version..