At the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Elon Musk arrived in Beijing. Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, met with Elon Musk to discuss the next step of cooperation and other topics.

According to sources, Elon Musk’s trip may be to promote the implementation of FSD fully autonomous driving in China. At present, Tesla’s FSD fully autonomous driving function, which has been implemented in the United States, has not yet been implemented in China. Tesla can only achieve high-speed urban automatic driving assistance in China, but has not been able to implement urban automatic driving assistance functions. Many domestic car companies have already launched urban assisted autonomous driving functions, which may make Tesla fall behind domestic competitors.

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He said that the BMW Group has delivered more than 1 million pure electric models globally, and BMW aims to achieve more than 50% of sales of electric vehicles by 2030.

He also pointed out that electrification, digitalization and sustainable development are the current major trends in the automobile industry, and the BMW Group will also apply new designs, new technologies and new concepts in future models.

In addition, BMW’s new generation models will be put into production at the Shenyang plant in 2026; within 24 months, BMW will launch 6 new generation models.

BMW’s 2023 financial report shows that the BMW Group’s annual revenue was 155.498 billion euros (Note: currently about 1.21 trillion RMB), a year-on-year increase of 9%; a total of 2,554,183 new cars were delivered in the high-end market, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%, and the market share The rate is 3.3%.

In 2023, the BMW Group delivered a total of 375,716 purely electric vehicles to customers (2022: 215,752 units / +74,1%), accounting for around 15% of total sales. Including PHEVs delivered, the BMW Group sold a total of 565,875 electric vehicles (2022: 433,792 units / +30.5%), for a sales share of 22%.

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Founded in 2011, CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the first internationally competitive power battery manufacturers in China. It focuses on the research and development, production and sales of new energy vehicle power battery systems and energy storage systems, and is committed to providing We provide first-class solutions for global new energy applications. Our core technologies include R&D and manufacturing capabilities in the entire industrial chain of materials, batteries, battery systems, battery recycling and secondary utilization in the field of power and energy storage batteries.

Just last month, CATL handed over its “report card” for 2023. The financial report shows that the company’s total revenue last year was 400.917 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 22%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 44.121 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 44%; the net profit after non-deductions exceeded 40 billion RMB; during the same period, CATL’s gross profit margin was 22.91%. The net profit margin was 11.66%, both improved from the previous year. However, since the second half of last year, CATL’s share price and market value have experienced a significant decline. On January 30, CATL’s market value was 619.165 billion RMB. Compared with its peak period of over 1.6 trillion RMB, the market value evaporated by nearly one trillion RMB, which once caused market concern.

It is understood that CATL and Shenzhen have a deep relationship. On August 27, 2022, CATL and Thalys jointly announced that Kirin batteries will be launched in the new models of the AITO Inquiry series. The two parties have signed a five-year long-term strategic cooperation agreement. The AITO Inquiry models will be fully equipped with CATL power batteries.

AITO is a high-end smart car brand jointly created by Cyrus and Huawei. Yu Chengdong, Managing Director of Huawei, CEO of Terminal BG, and CEO of Smart Car Solutions BU, said: “Huawei, Cyrus, and CATL are all companies committed to creating innovative technologies and high-quality products. We will continue to innovate and bring the most powerful, The most advanced technology is installed on cars, allowing consumers to have a truly smart travel experience.”

On June 16, 2023, CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. The two parties will focus on new energy vehicle battery swapping, electric ships, new energy storage, green parks, financial services and trade, etc. Carry out all-round cooperation in key areas. According to CATL, the two parties will follow the principles of “complementary advantages, win-win cooperation, and innovative demonstration” to help Shenzhen build a world-class new energy storage industry center, accelerate the construction of a new generation of world-class automobile city, and contribute Shenzhen solutions to the energy transformation in the new era. and Ningde Power.

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Wang Wentao said that Chinese electric vehicle companies rely on continuous technological innovation, a complete production and supply chain system and sufficient market competition to develop rapidly, rather than relying on subsidies to obtain competitive advantages. The accusations of “overcapacity” by the United States and Europe are groundless. The development of China’s electric vehicle industry has made important contributions to the global response to climate change and green and low-carbon transformation. The Chinese government will actively support enterprises in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests.

“Geely Radar Export Ceremony”

Wang Wentao pointed out that in the face of external challenges and uncertainties, enterprises must improve their internal strength, adhere to innovation-driven development, strengthen risk management, pay attention to green development, deepen cooperation with local enterprises, seek common development, and firmly be participants and contributors to the global green transformation. By. Representatives attending the meeting expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Commerce for its strong support for enterprise development and overseas expansion. They will continue to promote technological innovation, adhere to open cooperation, practice fair competition, actively respond to trade frictions, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results through pragmatic cooperation with European partners.

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This exposed potential problems in the car sales process. Research from J.D. Power shows that electric vehicle owners generally believe that electric vehicle tires wear out at about the same rate as gas-powered vehicles, reflecting a phenomenon where education lags behind adoption, a problem that exists among both car sellers and consumers. On the one hand, car companies overemphasize the advantages of electric vehicles and often ignore potential shortcomings; on the other hand, sales staff may lack understanding of the maintenance differences between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles, or be unwilling to inform consumers of relevant information.

Ashley Edgar, senior director of research at J.D. Power, believes that this is an urgent problem that requires joint efforts by automakers and tire manufacturers. He suggested that car companies and tire manufacturers work together to educate consumers about the particularities of electric vehicle tires, and develop new products for the different needs of electric vehicles to achieve a better balance between cruising range, tire wear and quiet performance.

It is noticed that some tire manufacturers have launched special tire products for electric vehicles. This is not only for marketing considerations, but more importantly, electric vehicle tires need to meet different needs. They need to be in strength, weight and wear resistance. Striking a balance between battery life and noise control.

CDK Global, a car dealer software company, released a research report on electric vehicle maintenance at the end of 2023. In the report, one respondent said, “For electric vehicles, changing tires is equivalent to changing the oil of combustion vehicles.”

In addition, tires suitable for electric vehicles are often more expensive than tires for combustion vehicles.

Electric vehicles are clearly an important part of the future of transportation, but the industry still has a long way to go in educating consumers about the advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles and developing more cost-effective products. The problem is that relevant companies lack sufficient motivation. How can salespeople be willing to mention additional maintenance costs when selling electric vehicles is inherently challenging?

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The Ministry of Commerce stated that in order to safeguard the interests of Chinese new energy vehicle companies and a fair competitive environment for the global new energy vehicle industry, on March 26, China resorted to the World Trade Organization dispute settlement mechanism regarding new energy vehicle subsidies and other measures under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. .

In the name of “coping with climate change” and “low-carbon environmental protection,” the United States introduced the “Inflation Reduction Act” and its implementation details, using products from specific regions such as the United States as a prerequisite for subsidies, and formulated discriminatory subsidy policies for new energy vehicles, etc., including China. The exclusion of products from other WTO members has distorted fair competition, seriously disrupted the global new energy vehicle industry chain and supply chain, and violated WTO rules such as national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment. China is firmly opposed to it.

China firmly defends the rules-based multilateral trading system and respects the legitimate rights of WTO members to implement industrial subsidies within the framework of rules and promote their own economic and social development. We urge the United States to abide by WTO rules, respect the development trend of the global new energy vehicle industry, promptly correct discriminatory industrial policies, and maintain the stability of the global new energy vehicle industry chain and supply chain.

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This is part of the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles. If the final investigation determines that Chinese trams have received unfair subsidies, the EU may impose retroactive tariffs on these imported vehicles.

This policy has attracted widespread attention in Europe and China. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China expressed disappointment and pointed out that China’s increase in electric vehicle imports reflects growing demand for electric vehicles in Europe.

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius said China’s desire to export electric cars to Europe was a “natural development of competition.” In the long run, increased competition will help European automakers produce better cars. He opposes raising import tariffs and believes that protectionism is “on the wrong track.” Previously, German automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen believed that the EU’s investigation and additional tariffs would harm their interests.

So why does the EU have such a customs registration? If additional tariffs are finally possible, how will Chinese car companies respond?

1. Chinese cars are heading to Europe
   In the regulatory documents released this time, the European Commission stated that they have sufficient evidence to show that Chinese electric vehicles have received subsidies. Since the EU officially launched the investigation in October last year, China’s electric vehicle exports to the EU have increased by 14% year-on-year.

The European Commission said exports from China constituted a “critical situation” through “large imports in a relatively short period of time”.

Last year, Chinese brands sold more than 350,000 cars and SUVs in Europe, mostly electric vehicles. Among them, the import volume from October 2023 to January 2024 was 177,800 vehicles. Compared with the survey period (October 2022 to September 2023), the average monthly import volume increased by 11%. Compared with January 2023, the average monthly import volume has increased by 14%.

The European Commission said that if Chinese imports continue to grow at this accelerated rate before the investigation is concluded, EU producers may suffer irreparable losses.

However, judging from the data, China’s new energy vehicle exports to Europe have begun to weaken.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, said that in November 2023, China’s European exports of new energy vehicles declined significantly. France’s single-month new energy vehicle exports fell by 73% year-on-year, and Spain’s dropped by 72%.

There are several reasons behind this phenomenon: First, European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands have recently announced tightening subsidy policies for new energy vehicles. In particular, Germany ended its electric vehicle subsidy program a year early last December, which was originally planned to be implemented by the end of 2024. Regarding this move, a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry emphasized that the German government “had no choice due to insufficient funds.”

It is also worth noting that in August last year, the European Union issued a new “Battery and Waste Battery Regulation”. Compared with the 2006 version, this regulation mainly provides unified supervision over the entire life cycle of batteries, including power batteries and energy storage batteries. Its core regulatory content covers aspects such as carbon footprint and recycling, which means that the threshold for car companies to enter the European market has been significantly increased.

In fact, starting from the beginning of 2023, signs of trade protection in the European new energy vehicle market are vaguely emerging:

In June 2023, France plans to push the EU to launch anti-dumping and countervailing investigations against Chinese electric vehicles;

In September 2023, European Commission President von der Leyen announced the launch of a countervailing investigation into Chinese electric vehicles;

On October 4, 2023, the EU issued a communiqué officially launching a countervailing investigation into China’s electric vehicles;

On October 25, the European Commission announced that it had identified BYD, SAIC Motor and Geely as target companies for anti-subsidy investigations through sampling selection;

In March 2024, the EU plans to conduct customs registration of China Electric Vehicles.

According to the investigation process, the EU will announce whether to impose temporary tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in July 2024, and announce the final investigation results in October to November.

The best-selling Chinese car in Europe – MG 4 | Image source: MG official Weibo

Although there are still several months until the results are announced, judging from current external feedback, the EU is increasingly likely to impose additional tariffs. UBS said in a report that the European Commission has not revealed how many tariffs it may impose on Chinese imports, but any decision must weigh the possibility of retaliation.

The current tariff for Chinese cars and SUVs entering the EU is 10%.

In this EU investigation of Chinese electric vehicles, it is worth noting that the EU did not launch an anti-dumping investigation at the same time, but focused on the countervailing investigation. This is critical because anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties are two different taxes. In past experience, the EU’s investigation results on Chinese photovoltaic products show that countervailing duties are usually much lower than anti-dumping duties.

2. How to “localize” Chinese cars?
   At present, although mature markets such as Europe and the United States have large sales, they are facing increasing pressure from trade protectionism. In addition to the European Union, the United States has recently launched an investigation into intelligent connected vehicles from China on the grounds of national security.

According to reports, some U.S. senators have even proposed a proposal to increase the basic tariff rate from the current 2.5% to 100%, which means that tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles may increase from the current 27.5% to 125%. The bill also proposes to impose 100% tariffs on cars produced by Chinese automakers that are assembled in Mexico and exported to the United States.

This situation is nothing new. With the rapid growth of China’s automobile exports, protectionist forces in international trade are bound to react. For European and American governments, the automobile industry is related to a large number of jobs and votes. For example, 14 million people in Europe are directly or indirectly engaged in the automobile manufacturing industry, accounting for 6.1% of the EU’s employed population.

Looking back at Japan 40 years ago, it also encountered a similar situation. In the 1980s, American automakers and unemployed auto workers boycotted Japanese cars and even launched a series of protests.

In order to reduce the impact of trade frictions, Japanese car companies have adopted a strategy of investing in overseas markets and setting up local production bases as much as possible. Especially after the Plaza Accord signed in 1985, Japan increased its efforts to invest and produce in countries where the market is located.

According to data from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, since 2007, the overseas production of Japanese car companies has exceeded domestic production.

Chinese car companies are also moving in a similar direction. At the end of 2023, BYD released information that after receiving billions of euros of investment from the Hungarian government, it planned to build its first new energy vehicle production base in Hungary. This is also the first passenger car production base built by a Chinese car company in Europe. In addition to BYD, SAIC MG, Changan Automobile, Great Wall Motors, etc. are also planning to build factories in Europe, and some brands have already started site selection work.

In addition to traditional car companies, new car-making forces are also taking active actions. NIO’s European energy plant in Hungary has been put into operation in September 2023, and Nezha Automobile is also considering building a factory in Europe; Leapmotor has cooperated with Stellantis to use the latter’s dealer channels to sell Leapmotor, which is expected to be completed in 2024 Deliveries will begin in Europe in the third quarter of this year.

However, Chinese car companies are investing in localization in Europe and it is expected that mass production of products will not be achieved until after 2025. It is difficult to change the current situation of European car exports in the short term.

At the same time, China’s auto parts industry is also “going global.” For example, power battery manufacturers such as CATL have announced the establishment of production bases in Germany, Spain and other countries. In addition, Tesla announced that it will build a factory in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and Tesla’s Chinese partners are also considering building a factory in Mexico or have already made plans.

In the face of increasingly popular trade protectionism, how to truly globalize the automotive industry has become a more important issue. This means that Chinese car companies need to change from a single vehicle export model to a variety of models, including building factories overseas, acquiring overseas brands, and even introducing entire Chinese brands to the international market.

Going to sea has never been easy, and it may be even harder in the future. But for Chinese car companies, going overseas is no longer an option, but a necessity.

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The team has developed a wireless charging pad using a lightweight polyphase electromagnetic coupling coil design that it claims can deliver power to electric vehicles at an output of up to 100 kilowatts. The receiving coil is mounted on the bottom of a Hyundai Kona electric vehicle, which is parked above a 14-inch diameter polyphase transmitter with a 5-inch gap in between.

Omer Onar, an engineer on the team, said the team has achieved the world’s highest power density for such a car wireless charging system. “Our technology achieves a power density that is 8-10 times that of traditional coil technology, and can increase the battery state of charge by 50% in 20 minutes… This is a breakthrough achievement, providing fast and efficient wireless charging for passenger electric vehicles. Charging opens doors.”

The current situation is that wireless vehicle charging technology has not really taken off in the electric vehicle field because its power levels are far from the fast charging requirements. One of the fastest electric vehicle wireless charging facilities out there is Hevo’s 12kW “jobbie,” according to Verified Market Reports. According to the report, the new solution disclosed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory appears to be “very promising” because of this.

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Image source Pixabay

Ferrari plans to launch its first all-electric car in the last quarter of 2025 and will open a new production site in Maranello, Italy, in June dedicated to making electric motors, battery packs and power inverters.

Ferrari predicts that around 60% of its sales will come from pure electric and hybrid cars by 2026, as it aims to carve out market share with a range of high-performance electric supercars.

Wigner told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday that the company will continue to focus on performance, design and driving experience in its electric vehicle lineup, insisting that “electric vehicles are not completely silent.”

He said: “When we talk about luxury cars like Ferrari, we’re talking about the emotion that can be conveyed to the customer, so we’re not just making a functional electric car, unlike other electric cars you see on the road. We honestly have no doubt that we can deliver a unique experience to our customers because we can leverage technology in unique ways. That’s what our company has been doing from the beginning.”

Although a typical electric drivetrain is almost silent, Ferrari engineers are developing “sound signatures” for its electric cars to replicate the signature roar of the gas engines that have powered its sports cars since 1947.

Ferrari shares are off to a strong start in 2024, with shares up nearly 29% so far and a 59% surge last year. The company hit its highest revenue in history last year, with annual net profit increasing 34% and exceeding 1 billion euros for the first time (Note: currently about 7.84 billion RMB).

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Hyundai Mobis is working hard to make traditional grilles work in the new energy era. To this end, the company developed an “integrated front module” that improves aerodynamics while providing a more traditional appearance.

This module draws on the concept of active grille opening and closing, and reduces wind resistance through openable components. But it does much more than that, with active air curtains, air skirts, grille flaps and hood vents at the front. These devices work together to optimize aerodynamics and exchange heat to increase battery cooling efficiency.

Thanks to this versatile design, the range of an electric vehicle can be increased by approximately 20 kilometers. Hyundai Mobis says the technology is particularly useful for models such as crossovers and SUVs, which tend to have limited aerodynamic optimization options.

In addition to active air vents, the module also has features such as automatic retraction of the charging plug and a retractable LiDAR sensor. The LiDAR sensor only extends when the vehicle is in motion and retracts into the grille when the vehicle is parked, reducing the risk of scratch damage and repair costs.

In addition to the above-mentioned advantages, this module also allows car manufacturers to adopt traditional grille designs, giving the vehicle more personality in terms of appearance.

Hyundai Mobis pointed out, “Electric vehicles usually adopt a streamlined design and reduce wind resistance by eliminating the radiator grille, which also leads to the homogeneity of the appearance of electric passenger vehicles.” They hope that this technology can not only improve aerodynamics Learning performance can also make your products unique in design.

It is unclear when mass-produced models equipped with the new front module will be launched, but Hyundai Mobis is working hard to develop overseas markets and expand order sources beyond South Korea.

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