Auto Shanghai to showcase electric competition

AFP | Shanghai

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The world's biggest auto show opens today in Shanghai, with foreign carmakers raring to show they can compete against the ultra-competitive Chinese firms that dominate the sector's new electric frontier.

As the petrol engine's primacy stutters, traditional industry expos like Paris and Detroit are scrambling to re-invent themselves -- but in Shanghai the era of cleaner engines and AI-powered operating systems will be very much on display already.

The government's historic backing of EV and hybrid development means China is now leading the charge in the sector.

In 2024 EVs and hybrids made up 26 and 19 percent respectively of total car sales in the country, according to Inovev.

"It's the only country that manages to get the automobile sector's industrial giants cohabiting with the innovation of a multitude of startups -- operational excellence and (production) volume with innovation and daring," Deloitte analyst Guillaume Crunelle told AFP.

Auto Shanghai, which runs until May 2, will see a flurry of launches for electric, high-tech new models -- luxury SUVs, saloons and multi-purpose vehicles -- all designed and built in record time.

Dozens of brands will take part, from state-owned behemoths to start-ups such as Li Auto and Xpeng, tech giants with skin in the game like Huawei, and consumer electronics-turned-car company Xiaomi.

Analysts consider the Chinese market, the world's largest, younger-leaning and more open to novelty.

But it is also fiercely cutthroat.

Some start-ups have already gone bust, while brands including SAIC Motor, BYD and Geely are engaged in a brutal price war.

Reports that two of China's largest state-owned auto enterprises are planning to merge, meanwhile, suggest the government is pushing companies to consolidate, eliminating inefficiencies to create new global leaders, analysts say.

"They are in a phase of rationalisation and simplification directed by the state," Crunelle said.

Many companies are also looking to expand overseas, in the hope increased sales in markets including Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America will safeguard their future.