According to China Automotive Network, on June 28th, foreign media reported that the European Union is facing pressure to impose restrictions on Chinese electric vehicles due to concerns that imported electric vehicles from China will enter the European market at an extremely fast speed and scale, threatening domestic electric vehicle production in Europe.
Senior EU officials have revealed that the trade protection department of the European Commission, led by Chief Trade Enforcement Officer Denis Redonnet, is discussing whether to launch an investigation allowing the EU to impose additional tariffs or impose restrictions on imported electric vehicles from China. This is also known as an anti-dumping and countervailing investigation, and the first batch of investigation results will be announced on July 12th. This means that if the EU trade department determines in the investigation that certain products are subsidized or sold at prices below cost, causing damage to the EU industry, the EU may restrict imports from countries outside the EU.
Difficulties in European electrification transformation
In 1886, the world's first car equipped with an internal combustion engine, Mercedes Benz 1, was born in Germany. In 2035, 149 years later, the European Union announced that it would no longer sell internal combustion engine cars, sounding the death knell for gasoline powered cars.
In February of this year, after multiple rounds of debate, despite opposition from conservative lawmakers, the largest group in Europe, the European Parliament officially approved the proposal to stop the sale of new fuel vehicles in Europe by 2035 with 340 votes in favor, 279 votes against, and 21 abstentions.
In this context, major European car companies have embarked on their own electrification transformation.
In May 2021, Ford Motor announced on its Capital Markets Day that the company will fully transition to electrification, with pure electric vehicle sales accounting for 40% of total sales by 2030. In addition, Ford has increased its electrification business expenses to over $30 billion by 2025.
In March 2023, Volkswagen announced that it would invest 180 billion euros in the next five years, including battery production, digitization in China, and expanding its North American business. For 2023, Volkswagen Group expects the total delivery volume of automobiles to increase to approximately 9.5 million units, with sales revenue achieving a year-on-year growth of 10% to 15%.
Not only that, Audi will also invest approximately 18 billion euros in the electrification and hybrid fields in the next five years. It is expected that by 2030, the sales of high-end cars in China will increase to 5.8 million, of which 3.1 million will be electric vehicles.
However, the "elephant turn" was not smooth sailing. Ford is heading towards layoffs to reduce costs and maintain competitiveness in the electric vehicle market. In April 2022, Ford Motor Company reduced 580 salary and agency positions in the United States due to the restructuring of Ford Blue and Ford Model e businesses; In August of the same year, Ford Motor Company cut another 3000 paid and contract jobs, mainly in North America and India; In January this year, Ford laid off approximately 3200 employees in Europe, including up to 2500 product development positions and up to 700 administrative positions, with the German region being the most affected.
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Post time: May-23-2024
