The Trump trade war
is hitting China harder
than the "official"
(manipulated) GDP
data reveal.
China cut back
subsidies for
electric vehicles
in June.
That prompted
some people
to pull ahead
planned purchases.
But from from July
to October 2019,
total sales of the
"new energy cars"
(electric vehicles)
were down 28%,
year over year.
EVs are priced
significantly above
conventional cars
without having any
government subsidy.
Bernstein analyst
Robin Zhu predicted
that ride sharing
and taxi companies
accounted for
about 70% of EV sales,
and would represent
a large portion of the
remaining demand,
because they are
much less sensitive
to subsidy cuts.
EVs are currently
only 5% of the
market share.
Beijing still wants
one in four new cars
sold by 2025
to be electric,
according to a draft
of its 15 year plan
released this week.
This raises the
previous target,
released just
two years ago.
Subsidies
are unlikely
to come back,
but Beijing
will spend
more money on
charging stations.