抄録
The research theme of this paper is to focus only on ZEV/NEV, to clarify the points of
change in the Chinese NEV market in recent years, and to attempt a rudimentary analysis of
how China’s international competitiveness is increasing. The characteristics of the East Asian
automobile industry, as shown in previous studies, are (1) China, Japan, Korea (and Taiwan) have
a competitive advantage, and (2) China’s heterogeneity theory states that the rapid growth of
the domestic market is driving the expansion of production by domestic companies without
international competitiveness in several industries in China. However, a study of the Chinese
NEV industry since the previous study shows that a major change has already taken place.
The market has undergone rapid changes, such as sales areas, corporate and individual
demand, luxury cars and low-priced to compact cars, the “consumer-experienced 1S type” sales
as well as 4S and direct sales, and on-board battery types. In 2022, BYD is the top of the sales
ranking, and at the same time, a battle of the winners and losers among the emerging
specialized NEV makers will take place. Xpeng, Li Auto, NIO, NETA and Leap Motor are the
winners in terms of sales volume. In the automotive battery industry, Chinese, Korean, and
Japanese battery makers dominate the global market, with Chinese makers, led by CATL with
a 37% share of the global market. This has led to an active change in strategy among
automakers toward vertical integration.
In terms of internationalization, China’s automobile exports are expected to grow rapidly to
3.11 million units in 2022, with exports to emerging countries, mainly in Latin America and Asia,
and to Europe. European market is where NEV exports are the mainstay. In the European
market, not only imports of NEVs from China, but also local production of batteries is
progressing. Chinese battery makers are also supplying Euro-American automakers. It can be
concluded that Chinese automakers and battery manufacturers, like Japanese firms in the past,
are rapidly increasing their international competitiveness through the sequential and cumulative
internationalization of “overseas sales (exports) → local production → R&D”. As a result, we can
conclude that the ZEV/NEV industry has begun to change from the “China heterodoxy” to the
“China threat theory,” as evidenced by the enforcement of the IRA in the United States.
