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Once upon a time, legacy automakers that were struggling to find growth at home or in traditional large auto markets discovered that fast-growing China could be a cash cow. It was the big growth machine for automakers that were 100+ years old but originated from stale, stagnant markets.
Then the Chinese auto market started to electrify — rapidly — and legacy automakers weren’t really ready for it. Chinese auto companies had a much more keen, inspired, excited approach to electrification and came to dominate the Chinese EV (and overall auto) market.
Then, however, the Chinese EV and overall auto market stopped growing, and even started dwindling. For those Chinese companies producing an enormous number of electric vehicles month after month, new markets were needed — just like how legacy auto companies from the West turned to China for their own growth several years before. In the case of BYD, the largest of these EV producers, the company has found plenty of sales abroad, more and more month after month. That trend continued in August, but the company wants even much more.






