China's EV Market Is Imploding (theatlantic.com)
- Reference: 0180051750
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/11/12/0150258/chinas-ev-market-is-imploding
- Source link: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2025/11/china-electric-cars-market/684887/
> In China, you can buy a heavily discounted "used" electric car that has never, in fact, been used. Chinese automakers, desperate to meet their sales targets in a bitterly competitive market, sell cars to dealerships, which register them as "sold," even though no actual customer has bought them. Dealers, stuck with officially sold cars, then offload them as "used," often at low prices. The practice has become so prevalent that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to stop it. Its main newspaper, The People's Daily, complained earlier this year that this sales-inflating tactic "disrupts normal market order," and criticized companies for their "data worship."
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> This sign of serious problems in China's electric-vehicle industry may come as a surprise to many Americans. The Chinese electric car has become a symbol of the country's seemingly unstoppable rise on the world stage. Many observers point to their growing popularity as evidence that China is winning the race to dominate new technologies. But in China, these electric cars represent something entirely different: the profound threats that Beijing's meddling in markets poses to both China and the world.
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> Bloated by excessive investment, distorted by government intervention, and plagued by heavy losses, China's EV industry [1]appears destined for a crash . EV companies are locked in a cutthroat struggle for survival. Wei Jianjun, the chairman of the Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, warned in May that China's car industry could tumble into a financial crisis; it "just hasn't erupted yet." To bypass government censorship of bad economic news, market analysts have opted for a seemingly anodyne term to describe the Chinese car industry's downward spiral: involution, which connotes falling in on oneself.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2025/11/china-electric-cars-market/684887/?gift=XXMIpN-TqdDnsWlArfcjaQ5irI8iDVvr8Wm2Gy-61P0
It'll be more than the EV market affected (Score:2)
and the effects of that implosion will ripple across the world
cool! (Score:2)
In China they have an oversupply of vehicles
In the Us we have more demand than supply.
Should be easy to solve these problems. Except wait, no, we won't buy chinese cars because we want to prop up the richest dude in the world and the cars he's trying to sell us, despite the cars being outdated, 3-5x more expensive than the chinese cars, and built on a heap of lies - like full self driving supposed to be available in like 2016.
Re: (Score:2)
Never mind that their FSD is more capable than any current system on the market today. Unless you've ridden in a Tesla with FSD activated and witnessed the problems first-hand I'm not sure you are qualified to speak to how bad it is. The "8-bit guy" did a random off-his-normal-topic video recently about FSD and it was eye openingly good.
My issues with FSD have more to do with the fact you don't own the car really, and you are constantly beta testing it for them. But it's remarkable how well it does work.
I
Re: (Score:2)
make that comma.ai. sigh. No AI assisting me here tonight. Or spell checker apparently.
There is no unmet demand in the US (Score:2)
> In China they have an oversupply of vehicles In the Us we have more demand than supply.
No, the US does not have unmet demand. US production slowed due to low demand.
The main US market isn't fully convinced to go EV. The early adopter segment is happy, but that's a very different group of people than the main market. Totally different circumstances, different needs, different concerns, ...
> Should be easy to solve these problems.
Actually transitioning from the early adopter market to the main market is notoriously difficult. A well known and well discussed topic.
Re: (Score:2)
As I understand it the US demand for vehicles is a little hard to quantify because prices increased a lot during covid and are still quite high for a lot of people. Although I think vehicle sales are still generally up, despite the higher prices.
If you are selling an orange for $1 and then suddenly you change the price to $10 demand will decrease, but people will still want oranges at $1. If we were to get vehicles at near China's prices its hard to argue that demand for evs wouldn't improve.
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Why should America finance our most aggressive and deadly existential enemy ? Of every dollar whisked to a Chinese owned company 90-cents ends up in CCP weapons pointed at us. Very imprudent behavior. You are US ... aren't you ... or are you one of the rats-nest of Chi.com agents posting on slash-dot & pimping-the-ride for CCP expansionist agendas ?
Re: cool! (Score:2)
Chinese people don't want to buy their garbage cars and they like China. Why would we?
Wishful Thinking (Score:2)
This is wishful thinking for the Atlantic's elite American audience. If the reality is that China is producing more cars than they can sell, that does not lead to a crash. It leads to them exporting more cars. EV's are a growing market in the world that will eventually have a demand for all that production capacity. Individual companies may fail, but their production assets will be picked up by someone else. If you are looking to invest in a Chinese EV producer you should be cautious. If not, its basically
Can't assume these cars are exportable (Score:2)
> If the reality is that China is producing more cars than they can sell, that does not lead to a crash. It leads to them exporting more cars. EV's are a growing market in the world that will eventually have a demand for all that production capacity.
You are assuming these cars are exportable. Things designed for the domestic market can have safety, IP infringement, and other problems if one tries to export them.
You will find these cars at Chinese run worksites around the globe. But that'll just be gov't policy, not some sort of actual demand at these sites.
Of course... (Score:2)
Of course, American car makers would never be subject to this kind of government intervention, investment or market distortion, nor car dealers playing with numbers or being dishonest. Clearly this is just a Communist Chinese thing.
China gov't over-subsidized in (Score:2)
...order to induce R&D, but the side effect is a glut of cars and mass collapsing of brands. Chinese citizens got dicked by a tator, who treats them like guinea pigs.
YAAF (Score:1)
Yet another American folly. China does what ? "...Bloated by excessive investment, distorted by government intervention, and plagued by heavy losses ..." Can you believe China fell for it ?
First we tried to teach Chinese religion, but they were too smart even for the Jesuits --- who conquered Japan. Then we tried to teach THEM politics, but we nothing better to offer than another warlord . Then we tried to teach them modern science & medicine , but China loves rogue bats. Then we tried to te
The Atlantic? LOL (Score:1)
Do you have any sources that arenâ(TM)t conservative propaganda?
Exported deflation (Score:3)
It wonâ(TM)t take long for these cars to be exported. When it does, expect them to absolutely destroy the automotive markets of whatever country allows them in
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe. Here in North America, the big three have already conceded the budget market. None of them are interested in anything other than luxury cars. For the first time, the average car purchase in the US has hit $50k. Europe ceded the entire EV market years ago to China.
Canada is set to relax the Chinese EV ban and tariffs, which I'm in favor of (maybe set them to 50%). However the only Chinese EV manufacturer that will actually be allowed in is Tesla. Our market is just too small to for Chinese automaker
Re: (Score:2)
> It wonâ(TM)t take long for these cars to be exported.
Assuming they are exportable. Things designed for the domestic market can have safety, IP infringement, and other problems if one tries to export them.
Re: Exported deflation (Score:2)
While that's almost certainly true for the existing stock of vehicles, they have also overbuilt production capacity. So they could easily retool to deliver for another market while selling the existing inventory slowly to domestic buyers.