The Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV = BEV+PHEV+FCEV, hereafter NEV) market grew by 38.2% year-on-year to 9,481,000 units in 2023 (on an ex-factory basis), of which exports grew by 77.4% to 1,205,000 units.

Of the manufacturers producing NEVs, the focus has been on emerging NEV-specific manufacturers established since the mid-2010s. Of these, Ideal Automobile (Li Auto) was the top-selling company in 2023. In the same year, its sales volume reached 376,000 units, equivalent to 2.8 times more than the previous year.

Ideal Automobile is the first emerging manufacturer specialising in NEVs to turn its net profit/loss into the black.

The Vietnamese market has traditionally been dominated by Japanese OEMs such as Toyota, but Hyundai Motor has recently been competing with Toyota for the top market share by building its own plant and expanding sales of locally produced models.

In Thailand, Japanese-affiliated companies will have less than 80% share of new vehicle sales in 2023. Amidst the successive entry of Chinese OEMs, it was impressive to see the presence of Chinese OEMs expanding at an unprecedentedly rapid pace, to the extent that the face of vehicles on the road in Bangkok was said to have changed in six months. In other ASEAN countries, Japanese OEMs continue to dominate, but in Thailand, Chinese OEMs such as Great Wall and Shangqi are expanding their presence in the BEV market.

In Indonesia, when asked about their views on OEMs such as Toyota and Hyundai Motor, the current situation and expectations for the future as the new car market has reached a plateau at 1 million units, and the degree of Chinese OEM expansion compared to Thailand, emerging Asian companies such as Hon Hai in Taiwan, VinFast in Vietnam and Grab in Singapore In Asia, emerging companies such as Taiwan’s Hon Hai, Vietnam’s VinFast and Singapore’s Grab are aiming for dominance in the region’s automotive industry as game changers, although their operations differ in terms of vehicle contract development and production, BEV business and MaaS platforms with a focus on vehicle dispatch.

Meanwhile, looking at suppliers, Korean manufacturers such as LG, Samusung and SK have secured a large presence in the global battery market and are competing for supremacy with China’s CATL, the biggest player. In automotive infotainment systems, Taiwanese EMS companies such as Hon Hai and Wistron have become indispensable designers and manufacturers.