“One big player cannot always lower prices [to gain market share] while driving out all other small rivals,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin. “If it continues to do so without proper [regulatory] oversight, all of its rivals will not survive.”
Ni did not name the “big player”, but BYD – the world’s largest EV builder – kicked off a fresh round of price cuts in May. The EV giant offered discounts of 10 per cent to more than 30 per cent on 22 of its battery-powered and plug-in hybrid models, which prompted other firms to slash prices on 70 models in May, according to the mainland business publication 21st Century Business Herald.
CATL, which for the first four months of 2025 had a 38.6 per cent share of the global EV battery market, raised US$5.22 billion in its Hong Kong share listing last month, the world’s largest initial public offering this year.
Ni’s remarks at the forum were the latest warning from an influential industry player about the prospects for the mainland’s EV sector, which despite its troubles was considered to be at the global vanguard for electric cars.
