China’s EV war: titans driving revolution in sector spell out challenges and strategies
- China’s consumers want next-generation electrics vehicles to be more intelligent, says Baidu’s Robin Li
- Not just a revolution to improve ourselves, we are joining hands with the right partners to transform the sector, Geely chairman Li Shufu says
A clutch of Chinese billionaires have upped the ante and ramped up the development and production of next-generation cars.
Among them are Robin Li, the founder of Baidu, the Chinese search-engine giant, and entrepreneurs William Li and He Xiaopeng, who have set up NIO and Xpeng, respectively, companies that viewed as Tesla’s biggest rivals in mainland China.
Elsewhere, Li Shufu, a guru of the country’s automotive industry, has unveiled plans to transform Zhejiang Geely Holding, one of China’s biggest carmakers and owner of Sweden’s Volvo Cars, into an electric-vehicle (EV) powerhouse. In fact, Baidu and Geely have partnered up to design new EVs with the aim of shaking up the sector.
All this comes amid a push by Beijing to become a global leader in the EV sector. It has spent billions of yuan on subsidising buyers, building infrastructure and funding cash-hungry start-ups.
Robin Li, chairman and chief executive of Baidu
We have long believed in the future of intelligent driving and have over the past decade invested heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) to build a portfolio of world-class self-driving services. China has become the world’s largest market for EVs, and EV consumers want next-generation vehicles to be more intelligent.