In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Category: Electric Vehicles
Localizing Cautiously: BYD’s Strategic Approach to Kazakhstan’s EV Market
Kazakhstan has long courted electric vehicle makers to localize passenger car production, hoping to follow in Uzbekistan’s footsteps. Yet the real breakthrough may come from a different direction. Chinese electric vehicle manufacturing giant BYD’s plan to start with buses—rather than cars—marks a subtle but ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
China Gets Second 0% Tariff Path to Chile EV Market via Indonesia
China now has two ways to sell electric cars in the Chile EV market without an import tax. Besides the China–Chile trade deal, Chile said EVs (electric vehicles) made in Indonesia can also enter at 0% under IC-CEPA (Indonesia–Chile ...
Ethiopians Dream of an Electric Car Future
By Dylan Gamba Kemeriya Mehammed Abduraheman set her sights on an electric car four months ago, joining more than 100,000 Ethiopians who have made the green switch. While electric vehicle (EV) sales in Africa accounted ...
China EVs: BYD Leads Indonesia in August 2025, Market Down
China’s BYD led among Chinese EV brands in Indonesia in August with 2,562 wholesale units as the overall car market fell year on year. Aion finished ahead of Denza, sharpening competition among Chinese marques under Indonesia’s EV tax breaks. Indonesia’s ...
Plugging-In Africa: Citi’s Ambitious EV Financing Future
The African electric vehicle (EV) market is projected to grow by 25 percent annually over the next five years. This means that stakeholders, including financiers, have to plan for this expansion if they are to benefit from the sector.
China’s EV Exports Up as BEVs Beat Hybrids, Home Sales Slow
China’s electric vehicle exports jumped in August, with pure electrics, BEVs, pulling ahead of hybrids, a shift that could deepen trade tensions as Europe and the United States face a wave of low-cost Chinese models. Passenger car shipments abroad reached ...
Import Perks End, China EVs Must Be Built in Indonesia in 2026
Indonesia will end tax breaks on fully built battery electric cars, including Chinese EVs, on Dec. 31, 2025, and require automakers to assemble locally starting 2026. The rule puts Chinese brands at the center of the shift: BYD, Geely, ...
Malaysia Opens First EV Plant with Backing from China’s Geely
Malaysia’s Proton launched its first electric vehicle assembly plant on Thursday with backing from China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The country aims to position itself as a regional hub for EV production. The facility is located in the Automotive High-Tech ...
Q&A: China’s EV in Southeast Asia: Growth or Dependency Trap?
A few weeks ago at the Indonesian auto show, I stood near a cluster of visitors crowding around new electric cars EVs. I noticed three questions that came up repeatedly as people leaned in to quiz the sales reps: How far can it go? Will it last? ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: BYD Thailand Exporting to Europe, Limited Infrastructure Slows Ghana’s EV Adoption and Chinese EV Imitations Go Rogue
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. The African electric vehicle (EV) market is projected to grow by 25 percent annually over the next ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Changan’s 932-Mile EV Battery, Chery’s SA Crash Test and Nairobi’s New E-Tuktuks
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. This week, news broke of Chinese automaker Changan's plans to unveil an electric vehicle (EV) with ...
China’s Battery Supremacy Tests Southeast Asia’s EV Ambitions
At a recent auto show in Jakarta, a curious pattern emerged. The most common questions from potential buyers of products from the EV industry were simple: How far will it go? Will it last? How is the safety? The answers to all three lie deep within the ...
Africa’s EV Trade Siege and What’s Blocking the Future
The electric vehicle (EV) sector in many African countries faces critical challenges, slowing down the adoption of electric mobility. Some of these challenges are intra-African trade barriers, which make it hard to do cross-border trade. ...