CHINA will be the main battleground for electric car makers for the next two decades, seeing off advances by the United States and Europe, amid a government push toward greener vehicles, according to a new report by BloombergNEF. Annual electric car sales in the Asian country will reach 2 million units next year, after topping 1 million for the first time in 2018, according to a latest BloombergNEF report. While China now accounts for more than half of global sales, other regions will start to catch up and its share will shrink to about 25 percent in 2040, the researcher said. China’s growth means manufacturers such as Volkswagen AG and Tesla Inc. can’t afford to lose focus on the country even as sales start to pick up in other regions. The two brands are among those planning to start EV manufacturing in China, while Nissan Motor Co. is looking for acquisition targets in the local industry. Chinese contenders such as Beijing Electric Vehicle Co. and BYD Co. are fighting to defend their home turf. China surpassed the United States in 2015 to become the largest electric car market and has kept the title since, helped by the government subsidizing purchases and spurring companies’ research efforts. (SD-Agencies) |