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China’s electric vehicle (EV) sector reached yet another milestone as annual production volume surpassed the 10-million-unit threshold amid mounting worries about overcapacity.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), an industry consortium backed by the government, announced that the 10 millionth EV rolled off the production line on Thursday, an increase of 4.3 per cent from the same period last year, and beating the 2023 production seven weeks before the year’s end. CAAM did not name the carmaker.
While the rising production reflects China’s prowess in the EV industry and domestic consumers’ increasing interest in green and smart vehicles, it has also raised fears of excess capacity in the mainland’s automotive sector where petrol-powered vehicles are shunned by buyers.
“As EVs outsell conventional petrol cars, more existing production facilities and workers will become redundant,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based EV data provider CnEVPost. “Demand for petrol cars will weaken in the coming years.”
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The mainland has an overall manufacturing capacity of 40 million vehicles a year and sales of around 22 million units, according to Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility.