HONG KONG/BEIJING(Reuters) – Challenged by the arrival of Tesla in China last year, domestic electric vehicle (EV) start-ups were struggling even before the economic shock wrought by the coronavirus, but now for some it has become a battle for survival.
FILE PHOTO: A charging plug is seen on an electric vehicle (EV) at the second media day for the Shanghai auto show in Shanghai, China April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
New energy vehicle (NEVs) sales fell for a tenth straight month in April, plummeting 43% from a year earlier in a market that has now got 50-or-so established start-ups competing with domestic giants like Geely, state-owned FAW Group, and foreign marques like Tesla Inc and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE).
“The difficulties that EV start-ups have encountered, such as the auto sales decline, harsh fundraising environment and subsidies reduction, all started last year,” said Brian Gu, president of Alibaba-backed Xpeng Motors.
“The outbreak will aggravate these…
Source Reuters Tech News
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