Chinese Electric Car Suppliers

Chinese EV companies have built strong positions at home and are expanding abroad. They produce affordable, attractive models and are remarkably responsive to subsidies.

Local governments also play a key role in creating both public procurement fleets and private passenger markets, providing generous consumer subsidies. These policies support a robust supplier ecosystem.

1. BYD

BYD, which built the battery in your ’90s cellphone, wants to make you an electric car owner. That’s a big ambition, especially since it takes longer to produce EV batteries than regular cars.

Shareholders weren’t thrilled when CEO Wang envisioned his company making a fleet of cars, not just selling parts to other manufacturers. That’s because they saw the move as a threat to their lucrative core business of producing rechargeable batteries.

Today, the Shenzhen-based firm has a full range of operations in four core sectors: electronics, automobile, new energy and rail transit solutions. Its EV production, backed by central and local subsidies, is growing quickly.

But the company faces daunting challenges, including a shortage of charging stations and reducing the cost of batteries. In addition, its efforts to scale up electric bus fleets cannot rely on subsidies indefinitely. To overcome them, the company is seeking to develop a “Zero Emissions Energy Ecosystem” that includes affordable solar power generation, reliable energy storage and cutting-edge electrified transportation. It also seeks to develop a more efficient and durable battery that could be cheaper to produce than its competitors’ products.

2. Changan

Changan is one of China’s bigger state-owned carmakers with a joint venture with Ford and Mazda as well as several international brands. It is also an early entrant into the electric car game with a chinese electric car supplier complete line-up of SUVs (including the BenBen, compact Zhixiang, midsize Eado and larger Raeton).

Changan started production of pure electric vehicles in 2022 and will offer both BEVs and PHEVs. Among its new models is the Lumin, a budget-friendly EV that is available in both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive with a 301 km range.

In the past, Changan has a notorious reputation for bad quality and safety standards, but since the company’s restructure and recapitalization in 2005, things have improved significantly. The company has invested in a number of advanced technologies, including adaptive cruise control, anti-lock braking system and car tyre pressure monitoring systems. It also offers a wide selection of standard features such as ventilated seats. It is also a big supplier of lithium-ion batteries, providing the power for a wide variety of Chinese-built electric cars. Its subsidiary, Contemporary Amperex Technology, is a leading battery manufacturer that supplies batteries to a variety of big-name car manufacturers around the world.

3. Geely

Geely is a relative unknown to many car shoppers, but it is one of the most impressive players in the automotive industry. The company produces a wide range of vehicles, from sedans to SUVs and pickup trucks. It is also a leading player in the electric vehicle sector. Geely’s EV sales have surged over the past year.

Geely has launched several new EV brands over the last few years, including pure electric Geometry (Ji He Qi Che) in 2019, premium intelligent EV Zeekr (Ji Ke 001) in 2021, battery-swapping EV brand Livan Auto (Rui Lan Qi Che) in 2022 and outdoors-centric EV brand RADAR (Lei Da Qi Che) in 2020. In addition, the company has a 50/50 joint venture with Daimler to produce and distribute smart EVs under the Smart brand.

To support its growing EV business, Geely established a global engineering centre based in Coventry, UK. It also tapped into the expertise of veteran British car designer Peter Hobury to create its LYNK & CO brand of modern, electric vehicle supplier compact sedans and SUVs. Hobury is now in charge of four design studios spread from Shanghai to Gothenburg and Coventry.

4. GAC Aion

GAC’s AION brand focuses on new energy vehicles. The company was established in 2017 and offers five different EV models. The AION LX Plus is the company’s flagship model and can travel up to 1000km on a single charge. The car also features sponge silicon tech which allows it to be fast charged in just 8 minutes.

GAC Aion made headlines at the 2022 Guangzhou Auto Show when it revealed its Hyper GT pure electric supercar. The four-door vehicle combines sexy styling with clever solutions to achieve what the manufacturer claims is the lowest drag of any production car.

The company’s e-car can go from zero to 100 km/h in just 2.5 seconds, though it still has some work to do before it can match the acceleration of the Rimac Nevera, which can reach that speed in an incredible 1.9 seconds.

Despite the fierce competition in the Chinese NEV market, GAC Aion maintains healthy margins for its products. The firm’s automotive gross profit margin was 18.8% in 1Q23, a significant improvement from the single-digits or even negative margins recorded by most competitors.

5. SAIC-GM-Wuling

The Wuling brand has carved out an impressive niche in the low-end EV market with its series of entry-level electric vehicles. With a price tag less than the average gas car, these models can help reduce emissions in densely populated Chinese cities. In addition, they are more economical than most other EVs and can come with advanced features.

The company has made great strides since launching its first EV in 2022. SGMW now has eight different EVs on the market, including the best-selling Wuling Hongguang MINIEV and Baojun E100. The company has a strong focus on market-driven design and development, which has paid off with an impressive sales figure.

A joint venture between SAIC Motor, GM China and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co Ltd, SGMW produces commercial and consumer vehicles that are sold in China under the Wuling and Baojun brands. It is also a leading manufacturer of microvans in the country. SGMW uses the Wuling name and red, five-diamond logo in its branding.