China's automakers must adapt quickly or lose out on the EV boom in the face of regulatory scrutiny abroad and competition at home

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — Chinese automakers, including state-owned auto giant GAC Group, can't afford to take it easy in the country's electric car boom if they want to survive.

Adoption of battery and hybrid-powered cars has surged in China, but an onslaught of new models has fueled a price war that's forced Tesla to also cut its prices. While Chinese automakers also look overseas for growth, other countries are increasingly wary of the impact of the cars on domestic auto industries, requiring investment in local production. It's now survival of the fittest in China's already competitive EV market.

«The speed of elimination will only pick up,» Feng Xingya, general manager at GAC, told reporters on the sidelines of the Beijing auto show in late April. That's according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.

GAC slashed prices on its cars one week before the May 1 Labor Day holiday in China, Feng said, noting the price war contributed to its first-quarter sales slump. The automaker's operating revenue fell year-on-year in the first quarter for the first time since 2020, according to Wind Information.

To stay competitive, Feng said GAC is partnering with tech companies such as Huawei, while working on in-house research and development. The automaker is the joint venture partner of Honda and Toyota in China, and has an electric car brand called Aion.

«In the short term, if your product isn't good, then consumers won't buy it,» Feng said. «You need to use the best tech and the best products to satisfy consumer needs. In the long term, you must have a core competitive edge.»

Like other automakers in China, GAC is also turning overseas. Domestic sales of new energy vehicles, which include battery-only and hybrid-powered cars,