The trade war with China continues at a global level even as Australia welcomes new Chinese automotive brands to its shores.
The European Commission this week proposed final tariffs of up to 36.3 per cent that it plans to impose on electric vehicles built in China that benefit from state subsidies.
E.U. began an investigation into Chinese automakers in October and released its draft of its findings this week.
Reuters reported that companies that cooperated with the investigation, including the German automakers BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen, face tariffs of 21.3 percent for cars they produce in China.
Media also reported that Tesla would only be hit with nine per cent tariffs.
This comes after the US declared tariffs as high as 100 per cent to prevent an influx of Chinese made EVs.
In response to the media, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said it firmly opposes European Union proposal on punitive tariffs for Chinese made electric vehicles.
It noted that the tariff proposal brings “enormous risks and uncertainty” for China’s operations and investment in the EU, the association said.
New brands
At the same time the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard in Australia set for 2025, which will measure overall emissions from producers’ fleets, has prompted the automotive market to offer a wider range of low emissions vehicles, including more affordable models.
China has leapt on the opportunity with a number of established brands like, BYD, Chery and GWM offering an expanded range of their automotive innovations to the Australian market.
New brands like Xpeng and Zeekr are also launching in Australia this year, with even more planned in the near future.
Getting ready
China also holds third place behind Japan and Thailand and now produces more new Australian cars than Korea or any other European manufacturer according to FCAI new-vehicle figures.
China as an automotive power in Australia has gone from 3.5 per cent of new vehicles to 16 per cent in three years.
Motoring bodies like the MTAA have regularly signalled the NVES as heralding a major change to the car parc, one the repair industry needed government support to be ready for, with predictions of up to 160 mew models of EV by 2029.