The European Union has launched an investigation to check whether Impose punitive tariffs on Chinese companies that make electric cars, given the wave of vehicles from Asian manufacturers on the European market. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, reiterates that these companies are using government subsidies to import their electric cars. And thus sell them at a cheaper price than other local manufacturers, which leads to unfair competition against European producers.
In particular, the President of the European Commission states that the electric car industry is “crucial for the clean economy” and a “enormous potential for Europe.” However, it emphasizes that global markets “They are being flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars”. And “Its price is kept artificially low thanks to huge government subsidies.”
The European Commission will now examine in a period of 13 months whether tariffs higher than those of the EU should only be imposed on companies of Chinese origin that produce electric cars. Also to other companies that produce vehicles in the Asian country. The European Union’s anti-subsidy investigation could therefore also affect companies such as Tesla, Renault or BWM, which manufacture some of their models in China or use components made in China, such as batteries.
For its part, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce has emphasized that he is against this investigation arguing that the benefits Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers receive are not due to subsidies.
Electric car manufacturers in Europe are looking for ways to defend themselves against Chinese brands
Now western vehicle manufacturers are looking for ways to reduce production costs to offer alternatives that are more or as economical as the Chinese vehicles arriving in Europe.
The French Renault, for example, confirmed its intention last July Reduce production costs by around 40% with the aim of defending itself against Chinese manufacturers. However, this will be the case from 2027. This is expected to result in a significant price drop for electric vehicles produced after this date.
One of the latest Chinese electric cars to hit the European market is the BYD Seal. It is an alternative to the Model 3, which will be available in November at a price starting at 46,900 euros. One of the variants of this 100% electric sedan is the BYD xcellence-AWD (48,990 euros). It’s around 1,000 euros cheaper than the Model 3 Great Autonomy, too 5,090 euros cheaper than the performance version.
