Are Western OEMs already resigned to China’s EV leadership?

In early April 2024, demand for Xiaomi’s US$30,000 Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) quickly outstripped supply, netting 90,000 orders in 24 hours and creating a seven-month waitlist. Just prior to the launch, Chief Executive Lei Jun fired broadsides at leading US tech companies Tesla and Apple, declaring the SU7 would be superior to the former’s Model 3 and claiming Xiaomi would succeed where the latter had failed.

The rise of China’s automotive industry to global prevalence in the electric vehicle (EV) era has been anticipated for several years. Recently, some major Western automakers have reacted to this increased competition with apparent resignation. Volkswagen Chief Executive Oliver Blume, for example, stated on 5 April that his company’s EVs “cannot keep up” in China, and that setting “utopian goals” for market share will be avoided.

Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Volvo Cars, Ford, and GM are among those that acknowledge demand for their EVs is slowing. Meanwhile, in a bid to protect their domestic industries, the EU is considering new tariffs on Chinese EVs, and the US is debating an outright import ban. As China consolidates its domestic market and looks further afield, how can Western players seek to improve their own EV offerings?