edatoakrun
Well-known member
The worlds largest Car market seems to have the world's largest BEV sales, but it has been largely out of the EV news (and often, literally, off the EV sales charts) IMO largely due to the problems of translation of market results in an economy within a state which exerts control (or at least, attempts to) over all information flows.
Some recent reports from Shanghai offer a clearer picture, of the confusing situation.
IMO, the Chinese government seems to have gotten at least one thing right:
Bertel Schmitt posted two reports on the Shanghai Auto show, both on his blog and at Bloomberg, giving you an ideas of just how strange conditions are in the world's largest car market, where the government's efforts to control information flows seems to have the effect of emphasizing brand appeal:
What is the overview of Nissan-Renault Alliance's China plans, and what may have went wrong with the LEAF (Venucia) roll out in China?
The Frustation Ghosn has expressed with unimpressive LEAF (Venucia) sales in China may be in the contradictions between the Chinese governments directive that it be sold as Chinese BEV, while many Chinese BEV buyers might just see the Venucia nameplate as branding you as "a pauper":
Some recent reports from Shanghai offer a clearer picture, of the confusing situation.
IMO, the Chinese government seems to have gotten at least one thing right:
http://www.autonews.com/article/20150427/OEM05/304279963/to-ev-or-not-to-ev-the-china-question" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;To EV or not to EV: The China question
Automakers mixed over how to plan for world's No. 1 market
SHANGHAI -- China, with its central planning and government mandates, could be the world's biggest driving force behind the adoption of electric vehicles.
But as automakers race to comply with its increasingly stringent emissions rules, they are divided over what constitutes the best EV strategy in the world's largest auto market, and over whether the nation's government is sufficiently supporting its goal of more EV sales.
The mixed messages struck a discordant note at the Shanghai auto show.
General Motors and Audi were among those voicing high hopes for EVs in China. In contrast, Nissan Motor Corp. CEO Carlos Ghosn, a longtime EV champion, groused that Beijing's professed love of EVs has not been matched by consumers.
EV skeptic Toyota Motor Corp. raised eyebrows by announcing it would launch an EV in China this year. But executives conceded it was a mainly a compliance car; Toyota's main thrust for the rest of the decade would remain its hybrid technology.
Incentives
With massive pollution problems and scant domestic oil reserves, China has made going electric a top priority. It encourages EVs with subsidies of up to 55,000 yuan (about $9,000) per vehicle, and eliminated a 10 percent sales tax on some EVs last fall.
An even greater incentive is that EVs are excluded by the registration plate quota applied in China's eight largest cities...
David Lake, GM's director of public policy in China, said the government aims to install 140,000 charging stations this year, vs. just 20,000 in place last year. And Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said the government's plan calls for covering 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) of highways with fast-charger stations every 50 kilometers (31 miles) by 2020...
Bertel Schmitt posted two reports on the Shanghai Auto show, both on his blog and at Bloomberg, giving you an ideas of just how strange conditions are in the world's largest car market, where the government's efforts to control information flows seems to have the effect of emphasizing brand appeal:
http://dailykanban.com/2015/04/shanghai-auto-show-2015-no-babes-more-chaos/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;I typed most of this in the lounge at the Seoul airport, flying back to Tokyo on the cheap from the Shanghai Auto Show. Serious work from Shanghai was impossible, due to a Chinese firewall that is higher and sturdier than ever. And that was just one of the problems. Be warned that that this review of the Shanghai Auto Show has a lot about the latest rice cookers, and very little about the latest cars. For a more serious version, click here:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-04-24/china-gets-left-out-at-shanghai-auto-show" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
...The distrust of Made in China products runs so deep that well-to-do Chinese raise their babies on foreign milkpowder, brought in from Hong Kong. For their family, groceries bought at the City Shop imported foods chain are put on the kitchen table from Ikea. The appetite for imported good is so ravenous that Hong Kong had to limit milk powder exports to four pounds per person and day.
China’s tastes for cars reflect this. The roads are firmly occupied by foreign makes. Custom duties, and pornographic mark-ups, make true imports very expensive. Grudgingly, a foreign car is bought that is Made in China, but by one of the many foreign joint ventures. Eight out of ten sedans sold in China carry a foreign brand. With an indigenous make, you out yourself as a pauper...
What is the overview of Nissan-Renault Alliance's China plans, and what may have went wrong with the LEAF (Venucia) roll out in China?
The Frustation Ghosn has expressed with unimpressive LEAF (Venucia) sales in China may be in the contradictions between the Chinese governments directive that it be sold as Chinese BEV, while many Chinese BEV buyers might just see the Venucia nameplate as branding you as "a pauper":
http://www.torquenews.com/1080/carlos-ghosn-talks-china-and-its-importance-renault-nissan-alliance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;The four brands within the Nissan-Renault Alliance are all converged in China and with a new factory opening its doors this year, CEO Ghosn says that the Alliance is expecting the Chinese market to be its biggest growth sector...
In the video below, which was shot at the unveiling of the new China-based Nissan Lannia at the Shanghai Auto Show, CEO Ghosn talked about the importance of China to the Renault-Nissan Alliance...
Venucia, the Alliance's Chinese-only brand, markets small, compact vehicles to the Chinese buyer, aiming for the urbanite transportation market as a small, portable, low-cost solution. Nissan is the Japanese brand, of course, and sells in the middle range with vehicles like the new Lannia being its main staple. Infiniti, of course, is the luxury brand and sells upscale vehicles (mostly crossovers) to the Chinese buyer who prefers statement-making luxury. Finally, the Renault brand, which would be in possible cross-competition with the Nissan brand, aims largely towards buyers looking for a European nameplate in a standard and entry-level luxury feel.