Elon Musk's electric vehicle industry leader Tesla (TSLA) has seen an army of EV manufacturers emerging from China to challenge the company in this growing market. Some say there could be 200 to 300 EV companies in China.
Tesla's largest worldwide competitor to date is China's BYD (BYDDY) , which produces the most amount of clean vehicles in the world with its battery powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids. BYD in April unveiled its new Seagull EV that it will market in China later this year for a little over $11,000 to make it the least expensive EV in the world. It hasn't said when it might begin selling the vehicle in Europe or other parts of the world.
Forget Tesla – We’re all-in on this EV stock
Tesla led the world in all-electric deliveries for 2022 with over 1.31 million vehicles, or a 40% increase over its 2021 levels. BYD delivered over 911,000 EVs in 2022, as well as over 946,000 plug-in hybrids.
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Tesla Chinese Rivals Delivering
Also bringing the heat from China are Li Auto (LI), XPeng (XPEV), and Nio (NIO) that are well-established. Li Auto said in a January statement it delivered 133,246 EVs in 2022, while XPeng delivered 120,757 EVs and Nio delivered 122,486 last year.
Japanese EV makers are also teaming with Chinese EV companies to roll out new electric models. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) unveiled two battery electric vehicle concept models in April that will compete with Tesla's Model X SUV. The concept models are part of Toyota's bZ series dedicated to BEVs, which will role out 10 electric models by 2026.
Toyota launched a joint venture with BYD on its bZ Sport Crossover Concept, in partnership with FAW Toyota Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing China. The bZ Sport Crossover is being developed with intelligent features, such as driver assistance and automatic parking. The vehicle will be produced and sold by FAW Toyota in China.
Toyota also teamed with Guangzhou, China-based Guangzhou Automobile Group, GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., and TMEC, to produce the bZ FlexSpace Concept, family-oriented SUV-type BEV, focusing on utility. GAC Toyota Motor will produce and sell the vehicle in China.
Honda (HMC )not only has plans to team with General Motors (GM) on two EV models in 2024, the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, but in early 2024, Honda will deliver its e:NS2 and e:NP2 EVs in China and by the end of 2024, it will deliver in China models based on its e:N SUV xù concept model.
New Zeekr SUV Rolls Off the Line
Chinese EV maker Zhejiang Geely Holding, which launched its new Zeekr luxury brand in March 2021, unveiled plans for its new sports utility vehicle X in April 2023 and in 56 days rolled its first SUV model off the assembly line ready for deliveries in mid-June, Electrek reported.
The Zeekr X will have three models priced from $26,700 to $29,500, with its first deliveries in China, then Europe before reaching Asian markets outside of China. The vehicles are expected to feature 5G artificial intelligence, facial recognition and an optional in-vehicle refrigerator. Zhejiang Geely intends to deliver 40,000 X SUVs in 2023, the report said.
