SVOLT boss warns Chinese battery makers on overseas expansion amid policy uncertainty
Chinese battery makers should exercise greater caution when building factories in Europe and the U.S. due to fast-shifting policy environments, Yang Hongxin, chairman and CEO of Chinese battery startup SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd., warned. Yang told the World Power Battery Conference on Tuesday that regulatory uncertainty and sharply higher operating costs overseas pose major risks to Chinese companies planning global expansion. Yang revealed that BMW once proposed a large battery order contingent on SVOLT building a plant in Germany, but the company eventually walked away. “The cost of building a factory in Germany was simply too high — labor alone is five times more expensive than in China, and total costs would exceed domestic levels by about 50%,” he said.
