Li Shufu talks about China auto industry dilemma, stresses gap in EV area

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- There are only five years of opportunity left for Chinese automakers to develop electric vehicles (EV) and relevant technologies, Li Shufu, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely)'s chairman forecasted at Dragon Bay Forum on May 29.

He said that China's automobile industry will eliminate obstacle for automakers’ development in five years, and then foreign automakers will live in China with a different route. However, it poses both opportunity and challenge for China’s auto industry to seek progress during the five years.

China will soon ease the restriction on the foreigner ownership of joint ventures, especially in auto industry, President Xi Jinping said at the Boao Forum for Asia on April 10. In addition, China will reduce its import tariff on autos from 25% to 15%, which will take effect on July 1, the government announced on May 22. All those moves demonstrate China’s resolution to deepen the opening-up, and Chinese automakers should seize the opportunity to take a leap. 

In Li's point of view, China is not powerful enough now to compete with foreign companies in a fully open auto market, including EV area. “Currently, almost 44% market shares of self-owned brands are from medium and low-end products, which gain no profit, feature no core technologies and are unsustainable to be further developed. However, 56% market shares of foreign brands come from premium vehicles featuring original design, core technologies and sustainable development mode.” Li Shufu said.

Geely has made some achievements in new energy realm. The company has promised to realize the average fuel consumption limit of 5 litre per 100km for its vehicles before 2020 and provide consumers with affordable hybrid vehicles. Besides, Geely has developed its own technologies of battery, electric motor and electronic control. What’s more, the automaker has also reached a world-leading level in new energy-saving technology, covering mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV).

Meanwhile, Li stated that Chinese automakers, at least for Geely, still lag much behind foreign companies in scale economy, not only in sales, but in many capabilities like R&D, cost distribution, quality control, power of discourse, etc. He added, “Geely has currently been working on electrification and sustainability.”