General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

From a piece in today’s Times.

Chinese brands will launch a price war and will capture a sixth of the UK electric car market

Auto Trader identifies pricing power as the key to growth. While Chinese electric cars have been priced at a premium in Britain, their manufacturers have the capability to mount a price war as competition heats up.

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According to Auto Trader’s research, he price the BYD Dolphin model launched in Britain starts at £25,000. However, in China it is the equivalent of £13,000. The price gap is said to be even bigger for Great Wall Motor’s ORA 03, also known as the Funky Cat, which is marketed in the UK at £31,000, but is on sale in China at £12,000.

“Chinese brands have room to cut prices,” the report says. “This gap gives Chinese entrants the pricing power to take on established western brands in the UK.” That is especially true of BYD, it says, because, unlike many western manufacturers, it produces its own batteries, the single most costly component of an electric car.

And the price war has already begun, it says. Auto Trader is recording average discounts of more than 10 per cent on new electric cars, while four in every five new electric cars are being offered with a reduced or zero finance offer.