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RE:Russian media: global electric vehicle market who lead the wind
"xiaozhou published on 2021-01-18 09:32:48
The fierce competition in the electric car market has attracted investors from other industries, according to a report on the website of Russian weekly magazine Expert on January 12. The full text is edited as follows:The electric car market is a magnet for investors. Even companies seemingly unrelated to the auto industry are investing in the sector.Earlier this year, it was reported that Apple, the maker of smartphones, computers and other electronic devices, was teaming up with South Korean auto giant Hyundai to develop its own electric car. Because electric cars are the fruit of technological progress, the market has opened up new horizons for technology giants. But they may not be able to do it without the automakers' experience, so the collaboration makes sense.Chinese technology companies are taking much the same route. At the start of January, Internet giant Baidu announced that it was forming a joint venture with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a company well known in the Russian market. As with Apple and Hyundai, there is a clear division of roles, with Baidu responsible for technology and Geely contributing expertise in parts and bodybuilding. Incidentally, the Chinese Internet giant is not unknown in this area, having been working on the technology of the future of transportation for a long time. In 2017, Baidu launched Apollo, a software platform for partners in the automotive industry and autonomous driving.The rise of the Chinese marketWe need to talk about the Chinese market in detail. There are several reasons for this: first, it is the fastest growing and largest electric car market; Secondly, it is strongly supported by the state. Third, competition is fiercest.Subsidies are offered for the purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles. The authorities are also putting equal emphasis on developing infrastructure - building charging piles - without which the market is undoubtedly impossible.Baidu will have to compete with foreign players that have already entered the Chinese market, such as Tesla, and other Chinese electric vehicle players, such as Nio, Idea and Xiaopeng Automobile. The last three companies all recently reported a surge in December deliveries. Also outperforming in 2020 was Tesla, which nearly met its annual target, selling nearly half a million vehicles for the first time. All this points to rising consumer interest.Financial market investors, it should be added, love the idea of building the so-called car of the future. Tesla's shares have risen many times over the past year, making it one of the five most expensive companies on U.S. exchanges in early January. Investors are also particularly bullish on Nio, even calling it China's Tesla, which has soared 11-fold in value in a year.Attract a lot of capitalIgor Strelmukhov, Tier 1 Partner at FP Wealth Solutions, shared his view: "The stock performance of companies related to the electric vehicle market is really impressive. It was pretty much the most profitable investment idea of the past year, but admittedly, it was pretty risky. It was a kind of venture. Placing a lot of money on companies that were unknown in the past is risky."There is every indication that competition will only intensify. Not to be outdone, other Chinese technology companies are looking to grab a piece of the market. For example, Didi Chuxing will team up with BYD, an auto maker backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, to build customized electric cars.As we all know, enterprises are an area where you can see a potential return on investment, and judging by the interest in the electric car market, the potential is quite high. Of course, only time will tell. The high level of enthusiasm is seen as an attempt to gain a foothold in a market that will be extremely difficult to outpace once electric cars become a major part of the market.Global competition intensifiesAt the same time, it must be pointed out that competition is global. It's not just Elon Musk and Chinese companies who see the potential, but also the big traditional car companies in Europe and the United States.As The Economist noted last year, for example, the VW group intends to spend more than $70 billion over the next few years to develop electric cars. GM even changed its logo to highlight the shift to electric cars.In general, the car market is showing signs of change. In addition to the Chinese figures, data from Norway and the UK at the start of the year also bear this out.Presumably because of its small population, Norway is the country with the fastest adoption of electric cars. In 2020, pure electric vehicles accounted for 54% of all new car sales in the country, surpassing diesel engines for the first time in history. Petrol and diesel cars now account for 17% of the market, down from 71% in 2015. That, too, is due to stimulus measures."It is perfectly reasonable to assume that they can do it," said Stremukhov. With a population of just 5.5 million, I think we will have no problem achieving our stated goals on that scale. The same is true of other small countries."Britain also has clear plans: in November, the government announced that it would ban the sale of new petrol-fuelled cars by 2030, five years ahead of schedule.That strategy is now showing some results. New electric car registrations in the UK have risen by 185.9 per cent in the past year and hybrid cars by 91 per cent, while petrol and diesel cars have fallen by 39 per cent and 55 per cent respectively.The rapid growth of electric cars is impressive, even if it is limited to individual markets for now. If this momentum is maintained, it is entirely possible that in a few years' time, at least in some small countries, the diesel-engine era will be a thing of the past."