Despite the loss of their bonus in France, Chinese BEVs will remain competitive
- The prices of Chinese electric cars sold in Europe are lower than those proposed by European, Japanese or Korean competition. When we compare the price in France (without the bonus) of the MG 4 (C segment sedan) produced in China by the SAIC group to its best-selling European competitors in Europe, we observe a price difference of generally more than 10,000 euros.
- Starting price (without bonus) in France of the following BEVs (in December 2023): Peugeot e-308 = 42,590 euros, Renault Mégane E-Tech = 38 000 euros, Volkswagen ID3 = 42,990 euros, Citroën e-C4 = 35 740 euros, MG 4 = 29 990 euros. If Chinese cars lose their bonus of 5,000 euros following the new regulations which will be applicable in France from 2024, there will remain a price difference of more than 5,000 euros in favour of Chinese cars. These will therefore remain competitive.
- The upper segment Tesla Model 3 (D segment) is also offered at a very low price (starting price in France: 42,990 euros) because it is imported from China. Imported from the USA, its price would be much higher, the cost of labour being lower in China than in Europe or the USA. The BMW i4 (competitor of the Tesla Model 3) is priced starts at 57,550 euros in France.
- We can ask ourselves whether producing in Europe, a region where labour costs are higher than in China, will be profitable for a carmaker already producing in China. Over the first 10 months of 2023, Chinese brands sold 275,000 cars in Europe (EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway), including more than 150,000 BEVs. Over the whole of 2023, we can expect 330,000 sales of Chinese cars including 180,000 BEVs.