Pendragon PLC, Britain’s largest car dealership, is seeking a tie-up with Chinese EV-maker BYD
“ UK company that is trying to win back the big carmakers after losing several major brands under the previous regime.”
Ben Marlow writes in the Telegraph, after a 30% plunge in profits, Pendragon PLC, Britain’s largest car dealership, is seeking a tie-up with Chinese EV-maker BYD to sell its cars in the UK. It's an important turning point for a UK company that is trying to win back the big carmakers after losing several major brands under the previous regime.
Still, China’s European land-grab is likely to prove an even bigger moment for Britain’s faltering attempts to crack the EV market. Green sceptics may scoff at the suggestion that electrification is so vital when the vast majority of people are still driving around in petrol and diesel models, but the UK car industry faces a potentially ruinous cliff edge—created entirely by the Government.
In its single-minded pursuit of net zero, the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars will be outlawed in the UK by 2030. Faced with a gun to the head, carmakers therfore have little choice but to go hell for leather in their pursuit of full electrification.
Yet it’s a target that on current form looks utterly fanciful, as sales of electric models go backwards. Just 16.5% of the 75,000 cars sold in the UK last month were BEVs, compared with 17.7% last year. At the same time, conventional models are experiencing something of a resurgence.
On the face of it, BYD couldn’t have timed its assault on the European EV sector more badly. Flagging sales of vehicles propelled by so-called clean technology have coincided with a glut of models to the market—or a “huge overbalance of supply,” as Auto Trader describes it.
While the availability of used petrol and diesel cars is down around 20% year-on-year, the number of used EVs has almost quadrupled, with popular models such as the Nissan Motor Corporation Leaf, the Renault Group Zoe, and the Tesla Model 3 overwhelming the market.
This has driven down values. The average price of an EV was 13% lower in March than the previous year. In contrast, the average price of a used petrol and diesel car rose 4.3% and 2.4%, respectively.
But the Chinese won’t care. Despite the price correction, and for all the talk of the likes of Tesla and Volkswagen Group producing mass market versions, the reality is that at an average price of £33,000 compared to £16,000 for a petrol or diesel alternative, EVs firmly remain the preserve of the wealthy. This is where the Chinese's more affordable EVs fit in.
To Sum It Up: UK politicians promise to respond to the challenge. But their efforts will come nowhere near to matching America’s efforts to steal business from the Continent with the IRA. Even so, the biggest threat to the UK’s hopes of building a world-renowned EV industry is not US protectionist. It's unabashed Chinese imperialism.