The dumb oil war in Iran is driving up the cost of just about everything, including new cars. That’s giving Chinese EVs a huge advantage over Western “legacy” car brands already lagging in tech and struggling with affordability – and those legacy brands about to have a whole new to them problem on their hands: USED Chinese EVs.
Western automakers have leaned on protectionist trade policies to keep cheaper Chinese rivals at bay, placing strict limits on the number of new Chinese cars allowed in and hefty tariffs on new battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are as high as 45.3% in the EU. That supply limitation is, of course, ratcheting up demand for the high-tech, low-cost Chinese machines, and buyers in Europe and Canada are finding that used Chinese EVs – which offer comparable tech to the newest Western EVs, a price tag up to 40% lower than their already low MSRPs, and which are not subject to the same protectionist import duties – are a workable alternative.
According to data shared by importers/exporters China EV Marketplace (CEVM), pre-owned vehicle sales to EU customers grew 280% year over year, with sales climbing to 7,900 units through September.
“Tariffs have already weakened demand for new Chinese BEVs among our European customers. We expect the hybrid import cap to put pressure on new PHEV sales too,” CEVM COO Jakub Geršl told CarNewsChina. “Pre-owned cars are exempt from the additional BEV tariffs and from the new hybrid (PHEV) quota. That is why we are making pre-owned vehicles the main focus of our European business.”
Relentless progress
CEVM has more than 2,600 used Chinese EVs on its website as I type this, and their inventory is refreshed almost daily with fresh pre-owned examples of cars from brands like BYD, Geely, Zeekr, and others – and the company claims its prices are about 40% below the original price (MSRP) on average.
“Lower new-car prices put pressure on pre-owned prices as well,” Geršl adds. “Our Shanghai-based team searches for those opportunities. We regularly find cars with around 6,000 km on the clock priced 40% below their original Chinese list price.”
That price reduction is driven by a number of factors, including the relentless march of technological progress, the flood of new and updated EVs coming out of Chinese car brands, and a burgeoning domestic Chinese car culture that values newness above all else. If you’re reading between the lines there, I think you’ll find that that means more low-mileage, low-price, high-tech, and high-value Chinese EVs are coming to the West – and probably a lot sooner than brands like VW, who are struggling to compete as it is, would want.
And that’s the real problem – whether you agree with him or not, Elon Musk will tell you that technology and markets move faster than legislation, and once consumers go electric, precious few of them ever go back to gas or diesel, regardless of what that dude filming himself wearing PitVipers in the drivers’ seat of his pickup and your racist uncle on Facebook are telling you.
Let us know if you agree, and if you’d give a used Chinese EV a chance if one showed up at your local Carvana, in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: China EV Marketplace.
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