Vehicle buyers in various African countries are turning to affordable electric vehicles (EVs) from Chinese manufacturers for compact EVs, which are well-suited for taxi services and short-distance travel, as practical replacements for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.
However, the price war between EV makers in China is putting smaller manufacturers at risk, a trend that could have serious consequences in markets where the shift to electric mobility is still in its early stages.
Lei Xing, a veteran analyst of China’s auto industry and co-host of the China EVs & More Podcast, joins Njenga Hakeenah in this episode to discuss the current EV price wars and what it means for car buyers interested in EVs from China.
Show Notes:
- The China Global South Project: China’s EV Price War Could Offer Short-Term Gains But Long-Term Risks for Global South Consumers by Njenga Hakeenah
- The China Global South Project: Troubled Chinese EV Maker Casts Shadow Over Africa’s Affordable Electric Car Market by Njenga Hakeenah
- YiCai Global: Chinese Carmakers May Face Cash Crunch After Vowing to Pay Suppliers Within 60 Days, Insiders Say by Wu Ziye
About Lei Xing
Lei Xing is an independent analyst and consultant focused on China’s automotive and emerging mobility sectors. With over two decades on the ground in China as the former Chief Editor of China Automotive Review, a leading English-language publication covering the Chinese auto industry, he brings deep expertise in electric vehicles, autonomous driving, batteries, and broader mobility trends. Lei holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA from Babson College. As co-host of the popular China EVs & More podcast since its launch in early 2021, Lei has produced over 200 episodes where his thoughtful analysis and global perspective on China’s fast-moving EV, AV, battery, and mobility sectors have made the show a go-to resource for industry professionals.
Transcript:
NJENGA HAKEENAH: Hello and welcome to The Africa EV Show, the podcast where we track the trends transforming how the world moves. I’m your host, Njenga Hakeenah, and today we are diving into the high-stakes battle, shaking up the global electric vehicle market and why it could have serious consequences far beyond China. BYD is no longer just manufacturing or building electric cars; it’s building pressure.
The company has slashed prices, rolled out aggressive discounts and expanded its reach from China to markets in Southeast Asia and even parts of Africa. Its latest move is cutting the cost of its budget-friendly Seagull hatchback by over 22% and the Seagull is now priced at just under $8000. But this isn’t just about bargains, this is an all-out price war and it’s shaking China’s auto industry to the core.
Smaller rivals are already showing signs of strain and the fallout could soon hit buyers around the world, especially in emerging markets like Africa where EV adoption is just getting started. So what happens if some of these companies collapse, if they die? Will customers be left with unsupported cars, broken warranties and mounting e-waste?
Because that is very possible. And to unpack all of this, we are joined today by Lei Xing, the co-host of the China EVs and More podcast and a long-time observer of the China automotive space. He’ll help us make sense of BYD’s aggressive strategy, the risks for global consumers and what this price war means for the future of mobility in Africa, in Asia and beyond.
Hello Lei and welcome. Good to have you.
LEI: Good morning from my side, Njenga. Thank you for having me. Glad to be here.
NJENGA: So Lei, you are doing amazing things at China EVs and beyond and we have seen and you have been tracking this and I know it’s a trend that is changing quite rapidly, but we are going to unpack this and we just hope to see everything as it unravels before our own eyes. But from where you are, I hope that you are able to enjoy the Chinese EVs because I know the tariffs were totally like we cannot allow these things in.
LEI: Well, I’m glad I just came back from China. So I’ve experienced whatever is on offering the latest and the greatest. So I get to go back a few times a year and every time I go back, there’s something new.
Things change. Changes by the day, if not by the week.
NJENGA: So we have to just flow with it. And I think for this conversation, we’ll just start with the latest happenings with BYD slashing prices, which raises very pertinent questions. And the first of which is, do you see this trend continuing?
LEI: Yeah, let’s the price war. Let’s give a slight historical perspective of this price war, which has been ongoing for almost two and a half years, starting in early 2023. The culprit was Tesla when it dropped prices.
And then in 2024, it was BYD at the beginning of the year that dropped prices. And early this year, BYD launched the God’s Eye solutions on their namesake brand, 21, 22 models with basically assisted driving functions at no extra cost. Right.
So what we call a non-price cut price cut. And then just recently, I think what made this interesting was that just within three months, three, four months after this God’s Eye announcement and the new pricing, already low, low, low price for the namesake brands, they announced on May 23rd, just two, three weeks ago, another price cut across the board, bringing, as you mentioned in the beginning, the cheapest model, the Seagull, in the $8,000 range and with assisted driving capabilities. That’s kind of unheard of in the industry. And if we go back even further in my 25 years of covering the industry, price war is not something new.
It’s happened on and off in ICE age. But for this to have happened for two and a half years, consistently through various ways, not only the price cuts, but financing, all kinds of ways you can think of, it’s been ruthless as one media, I think, had the title of this latest round cut. And that has brought attention.
For the first time I’ve seen this, you know, everywhere from the Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, the MIT, the associations, they’ve all come out with statements and perspectives of, you know what, guys, we have to kind of stop what’s been happening because we’re going into a period where we may be seeing companies sacrificing quality. So trying to grow sales at the expense of quality while the economy is under pressure. Domestic consumption, right?
There’s tons of incentives in place currently on all industry, not only auto industry, the home appliance, electronics, trying to, you know, hold up the economy. So I think for me, it’s new, not the price war itself, but the number of organizations and government departments have come out and saying, you know what, we have to kind of look at this and take action and stop this from going out of hand because who does that?
NJENGA: And GWM’s Wei Jianjun, I think I am saying that right?
LEI: Yeah, his English name is Jack Wei. Jack Wei.
NJENGA: The chairman of GWM. Yeah, so last week, like two weeks ago, well, almost, he came and said, this is going to be crazy. Whatever we are seeing isn’t going to be a bloodbath, do you think?
LEI: It’s been a bloodbath. And you asked about the question whether it’s ending. Tell you the truth, the point of these recent announcements is to look into it.
But in my mind, it’s not ending until further, the small players get driven out. And we’re seeing that happening as we speak. And we’ll talk about it, right?
Some of the casualties that have happened this year. I think Jack Wei is basically pointing to the number one culprit, right? Who is without naming, which is BYD, which is relentless, ruthless, never stopping.
How low can you go is the name of the game. And it’s difficult to compete when you have that kind of a scale, cost base, and you have your disposal to make those announcements. So I don’t think it’s stopping, but I think it’s making the industry kind of pause a little bit and think about some of the actions down to how you treat your suppliers, right?
It’s one thing that was raised. Quality of juice, that was another thing that was raised. And then this kind of the evolution style of competition, whether it’s healthy for the industry, for the entire upstream supply chain, that’s what’s being talked about.
I don’t think it’s the price war itself. In my mind, I love the price war. I mean, that’s good for the consumers, but the thing with what the BYD did is kind of happened before is the customers that bought the vehicles early in the year when it was already announced at that price point.
And then coming back just a few months later, and I’m seeing that you just drop the prices further without compensating me. That’s another area where, you know, the customer, okay, they get to enjoy these lower prices, but they also get kind of penalized for buying too early. Should I wait?
I mean, these are a host of issues that are bringing the attention of the Chinese government and we’re looking at.
NJENGA: Definitely. And I think when we look at all that and how it is playing out, it means that because companies have to maintain their profitability or maybe just survive, you have mentioned about how it may be affecting quality, the safety and durability. But I want to go deeper and ask when you look at markets like in Africa or in Southeast Asia, or, you know, the small economies whereby spending power is not as much.
And so whenever we see this shiny electric car from China coming, and I do not know it’s coming from a dying manufacturer, how do you see this competition that BYD is putting all these EV companies into affecting these issues on quality, on safety, on durability, especially for people like me who may not go to China and say, you sold me a bad car or you sold me a car which you cannot uplift.
LEI: You know, let’s talk about the African market, which you are probably a better expert than me, but from my understanding, the African kind of the passenger EV market is still kind of in a baby stage, right? It’s in a cradle. But Chinese automakers have been going in road into the African market on the commercial vehicle side, right?
Companies like Yitong, Futong, some of these buses and truck makers, they’re well established in multiple African markets. And the passenger EVs themselves, I think in several markets, let’s say they’re growing fast, but we’re talking about growing from hundreds of units to only thousands of units. So it may be growing at 2x, 3x, but the volumes are still small.
And going back to the casualties I talked about, the two companies we can mention today is Jiyue and maybe Evergrande, right? Because Jack Wei, he talked about the Evergrande of the auto industry. And the third company is Neta.
Neta is going through some issues. I think they’re done in my personal opinion, right? These casualties, what I think is from my perspective, the credible ones will be the ones that will make the inroads into the African market anyways.
We’re talking about, let’s say the Great Wall Motors, the Cherries, the Geelys, the BYDs. I don’t think they’re going to be the casualties anytime soon at all, right? So from that perspective, I think as a consumer in the African market, I think they can feel relatively assured that the ones coming are the ones that have the global reach and the long time, the profitability, and the well-established automakers rather than these casualties, which I don’t think their priority was the export market in the first place.
Now, Neta is a bit different. I think Neta, since they had some headwinds starting from the end of last year, they’ve turned their attention toward Southeast Asia export markets, similar to what Aiways did last few years, right? Aiways is a kind of a zombie that’s still around.
I think they’re still selling, but I don’t see these type of players on the edge that they will kind of go into, they have the world with all to go into the African market in the first. So I hope that the ones who are entering and who are trying to make a presence in the African market will be the established ones with, you know, like Yitong and Fulton, and they’ve been around for decades.
NJENGA: Yeah, we have the buses. I think we have seen trucks, but these trucks and buses, some of them are not electric, but the brands are already here. So even shifting to electric might be easier for them.
But the reason I asked is because actually Neta that you’ve just mentioned.
LEI: I think they were planning to go into Africa. Is that correct?
NJENGA: Yes, they have already launched. And so like in Kenya, they are being marketed as affordable, and they are being targeted at a market that is not like the luxury, but Uber or first time car buyers and things like that. And so when you look at these numbers coming in and then the stories happening or being told in China about Neta being or the mother company, the parent company, who’s on being in the red, then you ask questions because if that happens and then it affects Neta, what does that mean for me in here?
And I have just bought my flashy new Neta, which is maybe my first car or my car for business because it’s targeted at the Uber business, kind of the taxi sector. So yeah, it’s very good to see those perspectives because I think again, when people, from where I come from, when I go into a showroom to buy a car, largely if it is my first car, unless I am from the wealthy elite, you know, kind of society, I’ll be looking for a car that will move me from point A to point B. And so in this case, Neta have been very good in terms of marketing and placing themselves also in terms of affordability.
So I think what you’re saying does make sense. But I want to ask also to just follow up on this and ask, are there signs that buyers outside China can look for to evaluate whether the manufacturer or the lower cost vehicles they are buying are actually reliable in the long run?
LEI: Well, I mean, that’s a great and tough question. I think if we’re talking about the established players, I think the Cherries, the BYDs, the Great Wall Motors, I think they make a point of, you know, in China, when these cars are made for export markets, let’s say, let’s talk about Europe, right? They, some of the even the premium brands, they want to be in terms of the ratings, right?
The NCAP ratings or the safety ratings. They want to be on top, obviously, to meet the local requirements. Now, in a market like Africa, could it be lax?
Maybe. Because maybe the consumer demand requirements, what they look for, let’s say, affordability might be the number one issue. Then you run into problems like after-sales service quality, which for brands like Neta is an issue, right?
But I think for the established players, from my understanding, at least from BYD, I know they’re even facing backlash in Brazil because of how they’re building the plan, right? These things come up because at the end of the day, it’s a learning and constant growing pain and process. Even if you’re the number one, you’re the number one global NEV automaker, right?
You have to kind of be compliant with the local laws and regulations. If you don’t do that, then that’s something that could carry over to the Chinese brand. And I think they need to be very careful, the Chinese automakers.
Neta, I don’t know. If it was me, I’d be careful as an African consumer in buying Neta. But sometimes from a consumer point of view, if affordability and availability is an issue, do you sacrifice the risk of kind of the after-sales service and just getting a car right away and use it for mobility?
I don’t know. I mean, that’s kind of the conundrum, right, that we’re seeing. But hopefully, this is still a nascent market.
It’s growing. And whoever is going into the African market understands that at the end of the day, we still need to pay attention to the quality and after-sales itself. I think that should be the way to go.
It’s almost like the price war with the governments raising the issues with the current price war about are you sacrificing quality for volume, for market share? So those are the issues that need to be discussed.
NJENGA: Let me throw a spanner in the works then and ask, do you then see these Chinese automakers saying we will shift operations to whichever country outside of China and then we can go conquer there? Is there a possibility of that happening? Conquer in terms of we will go establish ourselves, manufacture locally, kind of control that market.
Do you see that as a possibility?
LEI: I’m not sure if control is the ultimate word to use for the goal. But if it does happen, then we’re seeing that happening as we speak. Let me give you the example, right?
Southeast Asia is the primary export destination for, let’s say, BYDs, Great Wall Motors, everybody else. And in terms of BYD, they already have a plan in Thailand. The market is, the prospects is growing so much in that region on the market that don’t be surprised if we see announcements, BYDs setting up plants in, I think this is already under discussion or actually in progress, in Indonesia, in Cambodia.
So think about that. Having three plants in Southeast Asia alone. When you do that, then the end result could be indeed some type of a control that we’re dominating.
I mean, not control, but domination of that part of the market. And if we see the Japanese carmaker market share in Southeast Asia, I think as far as recent as a few years ago, it was 95%, 90%. Currently, it’s about two thirds of the market are Japanese and it’s being eroded by the Chinese players because of the cheap offering that they have, the scale that they have, and the manufacturing plans and the target that they have.
Just using BYD alone, we’re not even talking about others, right? So yeah, the answer is yes, but maybe control is not the right word to use. And Middle East, I think Middle East, North Africa, Egypt, some of the countries that we’re seeing that it’s been going on for years in the ICE vehicle.
And now with, maybe you tell me if I’m wrong, that the several nations in Africa is offering tremendous, I think, let’s say a tariff free on the import of EVs, right?
NJENGA: Like Ethiopia and Rwanda, they have reduced. Ethiopia has kind of scrapped the tariffs. Rwanda is, I think, has a very small percentage of whatever cost as tariffs for the EVs.
Yeah. So in African countries, yes. And in Kenya, where I am, there are discussions to kind of make them more affordable by reducing those tariffs.
LEI: Because Africa, we don’t have homegrown, let’s say, African BYD, right? We don’t have the African Tesla. We don’t have African Chery.
So we’re going to be depending on most likely the Chinese EV automaker because they have the availability and the capacity, also the aim, the intent to be global players. So more than likely, we will see the Chinese EV makers try to expand at the same time, utilize and take advantage of the current incentives in place in Africa, although the volumes are still small. We’re talking about EV.
Could be hundreds of units or thousands of units, which is not that much, but it’s significant if we’re talking about a market of maybe only in the thousands or tens of thousands overall, right, EVs?
NJENGA: Absolutely. And I think we can now shift gears because I know that also establishing a manufacturing assembly line, it has to make economic sense. Like you cannot just put up a factory to only be selling 20 cars every year.
But I want to shift the gears a bit and ask about what would happen if this price wars mean that the large automakers are left in the market and then the smaller ones, the Netas, the whoever else, the there’s Neta, there is Neta is under Hozon, right? Let’s just say that they all fall through and it’s only BYD and maybe another one. So how do you see this affecting the global EV markets in terms of affordability for the vehicles and also in terms of consumer choice?
LEI: Well, first of all, I don’t see it’s going to be a winner take all. I think if we look at the rankings, it’s starting, in my opinion, it’s really a few buckets, right? Really the few buckets of players that do dominate the market.
And then we have a long tail of these smaller players or brands within the larger group. Let’s say Geely has many brands. Cherry has many brands.
Great Wall Motor has many brands. What’s going to happen is we’re going to see these further consolidate to these upper buckets of players. These buckets, I mean BYD alone on the top.
We have a few state-owned automakers that are behind Geely, Cherry, Chang’an, SAIC Motor. We have Tesla. I would put Tesla in one bucket because of its Tesla.
We have the smart EV startups. The ones in the ranking at the top, Li Motor, NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto. And then we have a bunch of these other players or brands within the larger groups that are kind of maybe not struggling, but they’re kind of stagnant, which could be in danger of being consolidated or exiting the market.
So I think if we look out into the future 5, 10 years down the road, it’s going to be these upper buckets that are going to survive. And when they do survive in 5 years, 10 years, they will have less brands. Also, because we see that happening in Geely.
They’re consolidating their brands. I think that’s what we’re going to see in terms of consolidation. And I don’t think it’s going to be BYD overall.
But for the ones that are left remaining, you can bet they will be everywhere in the world. Except North America for the time being. But if we pick the pockets of the world, Southeast Asia, Middle East, North Africa, Europe is next.
But I think Europe, at least it’s open. The door is open. The North American market, except Mexico, the door is shut.
I mean, it’s only natural. I think it’s only natural for just like the Europeans, the Japanese, the Americans that have conquered other parts of the world. But the geopolitical landscape, the tariff landscape, globalization is in a much different place right now.
So it’s not going to be as easy. But I think we’re going to see Chinese automakers find ways to expand abroad. But while doing so, we have to stress that even for markets like Africa, at the end of the day, your reputation is going to be dependent on being compliant, focus on after sales.
And you’re right, the consumers themselves are maturing as well. And that’s all what we’re seeing in the Chinese market is the crazy demand that the consumers put on these car makers to iterate in terms of launching new products, new features while keeping prices steady, if not lower.
NJENGA: And I think just like we do with our phones, you know, like you buy a phone now and then two months down the line, there’s another one, still the same brand. I think the demand will keep growing because all the manufacturers are promising something extra. So and then we are getting more aware of what is happening.
But I think for the next four years of the Trump presidency, there is so much we have not yet experienced that will reshape how business is done worldwide. And the EV sector has been one of the most affected so far when it comes to cars going to the US or whatever tech going to China. So I think we are going to relearn and unlearn a lot in terms of doing business across the world because everybody will come with something that in case there is another Trump somewhere else, how do we protect ourselves?
I know that those are some of the conversations that are happening in many boardrooms across the world. And because you have mentioned, you know, this small, because actually the major ones that have dominated are in the internal combustion engine, the Toyotas, the Hondas, the Hyundais and whoever else. Those are the ones who have dominated the market, especially in Africa because it is secondhand largely.
And then the reason being that if I have a Toyota, I drive a Toyota. And so if anything breaks, I know I will get that spare part no matter what. So you get that kind of peace of mind knowing that whatever happens to my car, I still will not be locked out of driving it because I can get it serviced.
And so when we look at that aspect of operating or running or buying a vehicle, and then we bring in the aspect of NETA, the challenges they are facing, and whoever else may be in that space. And then accessing spare parts becomes a problem. Software updates become a problem.
And after sales service, when, you know, these companies that build this car no longer exist or they are so limited that even producing these parts is a problem. Do you think that there is a way that they can survive this no matter what? Because their cars are out there.
By 2024, Neta had sold 400,000 cars out there. I don’t think they’ll just drop these customers.
LEI: No, I don’t think so either. I mean, in the case of Jiyue, I think this was one of the topics. They have the benefit of the Jili Group umbrella.
So the Jiyue owners currently, they do get service capability from Linkoco network. That’s been what was happening for a company like Neta. I think at least in the Chinese market, let’s say a WM motor was another casualty that’s already happened a few years ago.
They’re still running on the road. But who do they depend on? They depend on the third party after sales service like JD.com or Tuhu, which can service the EVs. And sometimes the EVs really, if the battery don’t have too much issue, I think you can drive the vehicle. And if you’re good with not updating the OTAs, I think driving it around is okay. And you can charge it, still charge it.
The battery seems still good. I mean, I was in a WM motor EX5 recently in Shanghai. The guy had 300,000 kilometers on it.
It was a 2019 EX5. And he was very happy with it. But is that the same for every owner?
I don’t know. Probably not. But I think what needs to be figured out, and especially BYD, I talked to a stellar leader, executive vice president in New York in April, early April.
And she said her goal going forward, because she’s responsible for kind of the European and international markets, is to establish a team and pay more attention on the after sales network. Rather than, obviously, they are expanding the network sales points all over Europe, pretty sure, you know, soon Africa. But really, after sales is something that she talked about is her kind of the job and responsibility over the coming years.
I don’t know if that’s the same, that focus is there for other brands or EV makers. But for a company like BYD, who has such a scale, they do understand servicing, being able to serve the customers is important. Neta, I don’t know.
I think in other parts of the world, these EV makers, whether it’s NIO, whether it’s Expone, and soon LiAuto, right? LiAuto is expanding to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. They will have to depend on the local partners.
I’m not sure if that’s the way of how it works in Africa, that is these direct sales outlets are without local partners, or we have established partners, dealership partners on the ground, African companies. I’m not sure if that’s the way, but more often than not, you will have to depend on what’s on the ground of not only your own company, but I think the partnerships are a big tactic going forward in other regions to help to serve the local customers.
NJENGA: You have mentioned about partnerships, and I have seen this happening because a few weeks ago, I spoke with someone who just brought in MGs. So they are partnering with a Kenyan assembler. So the first batch that came in was a fully built unit.
And so what they have done and what they are doing is that they are partnering with the local partner who assembles. And what this partner told me is that they are looking forward to stopping from importing FBUs to starting assembling locally. And I think that is one step closer to even fully manufacturing locally.
In as much as we don’t have, you know, the technology to kind of manufacture batteries or refine, you know, the resources needed for the batteries. I think these kinds of partnerships will help in terms of ensuring that for the likes of Neta, Junior and whoever else that is struggling in whatever way, that in the markets that they are in, just like you said that some are looking to just offering after sales services, then if you have a local assembler as your partner, then you can scale to the next level and see how do we continue serving this market. So I think it’s a possible thing that will happen because also evolution. If you look at, for instance, and this is something I also realized a few weeks ago, the Chinese BYD cars are being sold by Loggia or Loggia in Kenya and across Africa.
And Loxea is a brand under CFAO Mobility. And CFAO is Toyota Tsusho, you know. So you see how they are kind of adapting to how the demands are moving.
So I think that even as we look at the legacy brands or the legacy manufacturers, I don’t think they are still, you know, like all the way out in the water. They must be planning something on how they can benefit and kind of grow from the EVs or the EV value chains or the EV shift. Because at the end of the day, they have the establishments.
It’s just customizing them to make them. Now we produce EVs in these spaces. So I think in a way, we will see a lot more of these collaborations as we go along.
But then again, I want to ask that with all the competition and all the things that we will see, because the Chinese are very competitive. In Kenya, I have attended some of the events that are either in renewable energy or these EVs, and you find that every Chinese company is selling. And you know, if this was selling at $5,000, somebody will try and, you know, get $200 off and kind of sell.
But do you see that kind of competition, in case it affects quality and the long running of the vehicles, affecting buyer confidence in these low power or low buyer power economies like African countries? And would like GE and NETA folding, they have not, by the way, we are just using this as a hypothesis, because there are things that are happening in this space. Would it affect the confidence that I or you as a buyer for a Chinese EV, you’ll be like, maybe I should reconsider because I’m not sure they’ll be here for the after sales and for everything else that I have bought and paid for.
LEI: I think to me, I’ve always held the view that it’s not really the price for itself. It’s really is there’s too many brands. And we’re still seeing brands enter as the brands exit.
And when does that stop? I think we’re nearing the end of the brand movement. And we’re going toward another phase of brand consolidation.
I talked about even within groups, right, Julie group, the groups. So no, I think to the consumer, the default, the casualty, the exiting of GE, Neta and soon probably others, I don’t think it affects at all because there’s so many brands on offers, so much volume that the consumers can choose from. And the ones that have established themselves about having the quality, affordability, availability of the products on the market is good enough.
And I think the consumers, they, the Chinese consumers, especially when they went through kind of the home appliance, the electronics, they know this is common occurrence in competition that people are squeezed out. So no, I don’t think it affects at all. But if we talk about on a global perspective, what this round of several government level departments coming out with issues.
So the next step is what kind of actions they’re going to take, right? So one of the actions being discussed is maybe have random inspections. Let’s say I randomly pick out BYD products to inspect.
We have MIIT, we have the Ministry of Commerce, these joint level, joint departmental inspections. We just go out on the market and maybe conduct some kind of inspection on the products to see if we’re cutting corners, to see if Jack Wei, what he mentioned, the Evergrande of China really exists or not, to see whether they’re having excessive times of payment days of squeezing the suppliers, excessive squeezing of the suppliers, extending the payment days longer than what is required or agreed on.
These are the things that could possibly happen in the coming weeks and months. And if it was found out that companies are employing measures that are against or violating certain rules, then this could be significant events in the industry, especially for a company like BYD at the top that they have so much momentum. Basically, Jack Wei, all of his comments are really without naming BYD, pointing the finger at BYD because they’re the bullseye, right?
They’re the public enemy. I talk about this in a podcast that when you’re number one, when you’re a Tesla, people put bullseye targets on your back. It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of actions the government departments actually are going to take now that they have announced statements.
The CAM, the association, announced a declaration hoping the industry kind of bring in this orderly conduct of playing by the rules or not making it involuted. That’ll be interesting to see how that will affect consumer perception of a brand. That’s the wild card.
I think that’s the question that we’re going to see. No, there’s not. That one casualty is not going to affect the industry.
NJENGA: I think also in terms of the Chinese economy and how much these EVs contribute to growing that economy, I don’t think the government would just look at it and look the other way. It’s something that, like you’re saying, even as we are looking at whoever is leading, I think even the government is like, you cannot jeopardize our economy. You can’t be too big for the government.
That is a thing that is very well spoken, even without speaking, even to the biggest of these manufacturers.
LEI: Yeah, that goes back to the earlier questions that it’s not going to be a one-on-one take-all. In any industries, in tech, there’s always two or three players battling. Imagine a full take-out if we’re going to combine Meituan and others into one big monopoly.
I don’t see that happening. And I don’t think it’s going to be one, two players dominating all the volumes. That’s not the way it works in the industry.
NJENGA: And I think just looking at and having this conversation, everything kind of now makes a sense, having had this conversation with you, Lei. And I think we can have this conversation forever because there are so many issues that we have not even touched on, like the zero-mileage BYD kind of thing that is happening. They have all this stock and they have to create a certain impression.
LEI: This is what I was saying, that this is probably going to be looked at somehow, what comes out of it, who’s doing it. And from my experience, it’s not new, the zero-mileage thing. It’s not new.
But the scale at which this is happening, how rampant it is, is bringing the attention of the government level departments, right? And so I think this year, we’re amidst this rapid growth, increasing volume, intake rate, bloodbath competition. We’re probably going to see some actions being taken to kind of say, let’s hold on a minute.
Let’s slow down a bit. I think that’s what we’re seeing happening.
NJENGA: And thank you so much, Lei. I know that we cannot exhaust this conversation. And so we will be having you on some other time, because like we said at the beginning, these are very rapidly evolving kind of sector and space.
And so today we have discussed this, maybe by the end of tomorrow, whatever we have discussed will have been nullified, you know? Thank you so much, Lei, for your time and for the great work you’re doing on the China EVs and more. It’s always a good, good pleasure for us speaking with you.
And I know my colleagues as well, because your insights are always very eye-opening. And even when we are planning, we can plan better.
LEI: Well, thank you. The pleasure is mine. And I learned something from you today as well.
Happy to chat, share, exchange, discuss, debate, constantly evolving. And I think for me, it’s difficult to watch on a constant basis. Even for someone like me, right?
To follow up, to keep up. And I try to make sense of it, right? At the top, you say, you know, try to make sense of it.
I don’t know if we ever make sense of it. And that’s what’s exciting. And it’s a learning experience every day.
NJENGA: So guys, that’s a wrap on this episode of The Africa EV Show. We looked at how BYD is not just building cars, but reshaping the global electric vehicle game. Piling pressure on rivals to keep up or to bow out.
For price-conscious buyers in Africa, where I am, and in Southeast Asia and other countries and the global south, the immediate benefits are real, but so are the risks. And as this EV price war escalates, or maybe de-escalates, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. The question isn’t just who wins, but what happens to everyone else caught in the crossfire.
Again, a special thanks to our guest Lei of China EVs & More for his insights into what’s unfolding on the ground in China’s auto sector. If you found today’s episode helpful, share it with a friend, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a review. It really helps others find the show and also stay up to date on everything EVs.
Until next time, enjoy the rest of our shows and see you again soon.
