(FINANCIAL TIMES) - The opening of Tesla's Shanghai factory in 2019 was a breakthrough for electric vehicles and for overseas carmakers: it was the first wholly foreign-owned plant in the world's largest car market. But it also marked the start of an even bigger trend, which promises to upend the structure of global manufacturing, bring a new wave of deindustrialisation to Europe and trigger trade tensions of an intensity to match the 1980s. That trend is the emergence of China as a car exporter.
As Mr Gregor Sebastian and Mr Francois Chimits of the Mercator Institute for China Studies documented recently, China's car exports are taking off, many of them are electric vehicles and most are going to Europe. From almost nothing a few years ago, China exported half a million electric vehicles in 2021, and its market share in Europe was second only to Germany's. As the car market goes electric, Europe could quickly find itself running a trade deficit with China in automobiles.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Read the full story and more at $9.90/month
Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month
ST One Digital
$9.90/month
No contract
ST app access on 1 mobile device
Unlock these benefits
All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com
Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device
E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you