China’s luxury electric car market is slowing down, but that’s not necessarily the case

For much of the past year, it seemed like one of China’s major automakers was unveiling a new, innovative, high-end electric vehicle every other week. However, some analysts expect fewer new high-end models to be launched in 2025 due to weak local market demand.

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“I think carmakers will slow down the launch of new high-end models in 2025 and focus on upgrading existing models,” he told the South China Morning Post. “This segment is not easy to expand. Coupled with electric The overall automobile market is slowing down, and the sales of high-end electric models are facing considerable challenges this year.”

In the first 11 months of this year, China’s high-end electric vehicle sales accounted for approximately 10% of total electric vehicle sales. While sales of these models have grown in recent years, that growth has begun to slow, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Ongoing price wars also make it difficult for new products to enter the market and prove competitive.

“Few companies have successfully entered the high-end market, and most of the rest have suffered from weak sales and huge investment losses,” said Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Jiangxi New Energy Technology Research Institute. “This is a wake-up call for automakers.”

Some local brands are beginning to feel the pressure of slowing sales growth in 2024. In August last year, Chinese Express filed for bankruptcy, with sales of less than 8,000 high-end electric models in 2023, and in December, Geely’s Jiyue electric vehicle brand was also on the verge of bankruptcy. Collapse. Despite slowing growth, China’s electric vehicle market is expected to grow significantly this year. In fact, sales of new energy vehicles, including pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, are likely to increase by 28% this year to 15.78 million vehicles.