Chinese automakers are set to take the top spot in global new vehicle sales for the first time in 2025, knocking Japanese players, which held the position for more than 20 years, to second place.
Japan’s lead over China – which stood at around 8 million units in 2022 – has been erased in just three years.


Those low prices are completely artificial though which is the entire root of the issue. They achieve those prices by protectionism over the base minerals, lax environmental regulations, slave labor, and massive government subsidies. These artificially low prices will only last as long as it takes to put everyone else out of business. China does this over and over in so many industries that it should be completely obvious to anyone paying attention.
Not at all. I think the $1000 EVs are low quality but this isn’t a blanket statement about everything manufactured in China. I also recognize that consumers on average will choose price over pretty much any other aspect of their purchase which is why companies like Walmart are so successful despite being plagues on society. Additionally, having these insanely cheap vehicles for sale makes it quite easy to boost “sales numbers” when you can sell 20 of something for the same price that your competitor sells one. The article states the average sale price of these vehicles is $14k which isn’t something anyone else in the world can compete against at scale without the same dirty tactics, so its no wonder China is selling higher volumes especially when they have 1.4 billion citizens to sell to.
What percentage of sales does that account for though? Any market whether cars or furniture always has some segment targeting high-end sales. I don’t find it surprising at all that they’re taking that over as these are always the most volatile segments of any market. What do Bentley or Rolls Royce have to offer for a million dollars other than status and brand recognition? Not much.
Which would be a rational decision for pretty much anyone at the individual level but irrational and catastrophic on a macro scale. As I mentioned, these prices are completely artificial and temporary. What may feel like a personal win today will likely lead to devastation later as this is a play at monopolization and domination not generosity and altruism, but most people won’t recognize or acknowledge this and don’t see anything past the ‘unreasonably low price’ bait being dangled in front of their face.
I completely agree with everything you said, it’s an unfortunate situation but unfortunately no government is really equipped to be able to compete against nationalized undercutting. And it’s really a responsibility moreso at that level, rather than at the individual level since everyone around the world these days is getting squeezed financially.