Currently, the most important auto show in the largest automobile market in the world is held every year alternately in Beijing and Shanghai. This year’s 18th edition, which started on Thursday and will last until next Sunday, came to the Chinese capital and is enjoying record interest.
Domestic and foreign automakers are unveiling 117 new models at the Beijing show this year, compared to 93 premieres in Shanghai last year. Seven more New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) will be on display than last year, or cars with an alternative drive – in total there will be 278 electric cars and hybrids, which is a new historical record.
Video footage from the first days of the car exhibition in China can be viewed at the beginning of the article.
Plug-in cars and their digital connectivity became the main topic at this year’s biggest auto show in Beijing. And other Asian, as well as European and American brands present models and concepts that are directly aimed at customers in China as the main market and production base of these electric cars.
How much electric mobility is pulling in China
Every fourth car sold in China last year was battery-powered, and by the beginning of April this year, it was even more than half of all cars sold there. And they should also add hybrids, which made up 12 percent of the market there last year.
The largest Chinese manufacturer of electric cars, BYD, for example, showed two sedans that can run either exclusively on electricity or on diesel. Both have a combined range of 2,000 kilometers, and while Qin L did not mention the price for the DM-i model, the Seal 06 DM-i is expected to cost 120,000 yen, or 390,000 crowns.
The world premiere was then held by the Mini Aceman model created under the banner of BMW, which is fully electric and, as a crossover between a three-door Cooper and an SUV, offers a range of 310 kilometers in the basic version and a price of 845,000 crowns.
And from Germany, Porsche also boasted a new electric car, which showed the recently introduced Macan SUV model in Beijing. It offers a range of 613 kilometers, but at a price of 2.2 million crowns. Which is not so surprising for a luxury car company.
Nissan also showed its new cars with an alternative drive, in this case only as design studies. There are two sedans – the all-electric Epoch and the hybrid Evo – and two SUVs – again the all-electric Epic and the hybrid Era.
Everyone doesn’t just know the electric future
While Chinese brands are racing to introduce more electric cars, competition from America is sometimes more cautious. Although General Motors did not show any car with an internal combustion engine at the Chinese auto show for the first time. Rival Chevy, however, said that models with an internal combustion engine will still have a share of at least 40 percent in sales in the future – the rest will be shared equally by hybrids and pure battery cars. And so it will continue to develop fossil cars as well.
The Chinese company Nio, which exclusively produces electric cars, has let it be known that there is no longer any doubt that there is no longer interest in cars with an internal combustion engine.
And the crowds at the booth of another newcomer to the industry – consumer electronics maker Xiaomi – could be seen as affirming. He was showing the new SU7 electric sports sedan in Beijing, for which he already has over 75,000 orders. In the basic version, it also has a range of 700 kilometers and its price is 700 thousand crowns, so it is cheaper than Tesla.
Tesla itself does not participate in the fair. And that’s because of a pricing strategy that works harder in a place where manufacturers compete with cars for the lowest possible amounts. At the same time, it also does not have time to deliver to customers, so it does not need a flood of new orders.
The fact that the transformation of the automotive industry is not as fast in any other country in the world as there is confirmed by the head of Volkswagen, Oliver Blume, who said that if the German concern wants to stay on the Chinese market, it will have to work even harder and faster. And other established brands have made similar statements in the past.
