Catch – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

The employees will work in the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai, East China on November 20, 2020.

Ding Ting | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

China is the largest player in the Asian electric vehicle market – but the region still lags behind Europe, according to an analyst from research firm Fitch Solutions.

Asia is falling behind Because European governments are taking strong measures to stimulate the growth of the sector, Anna-Marie Baisden, head of automotive research at Fitch Solutions, said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia”.

“The region is catching up. When we talk about the Asian EV market, we mostly talk about China, which still accounts for around 90% of sales,” said Baisden.

“But there are a lot of supportive measures that have been put in place in Europe, especially the EU, in response to the coronavirus over the past year … both on the infrastructure side and nationally in terms of incentives,” she said.

A report from Cairn Energy Research Advisors, a consulting firm with a focus on the battery and electric vehicle industry, forecast last year that sales of electric vehicles will increase in 2021. It is coming Countries around the world are pushing for new programs to encourage consumers to buy battery-powered vehicles.

The report also said that The largest growth in sales for this sector is coming from Europe, mainly as EU governments are working to reduce carbon emissions.

Challenges for Japan and India

Baisden said the weak acceptance of electric vehicles in Asia – mainly in countries like Japan and India – was due to a combination of factors.

While there is demand in Japan, “we are still waiting for concrete incentive plans,” she pointed out. “We learned in January that there are plans to create financial incentives for purchasing at the local level, particularly with the goal of having all electric car sales by 2030.”

In India, the electric vehicle sector is likely to receive a boost from Elon Musk’s electric car maker Tesla.

It has a much lower median income than the other Asian markets. There’s a lot of potential there, but it really comes down to India’s demographics.

Anna-Marie Baisden

Head of Automotive Research, Fitch Solutions

According to Reuters, the US company founded Tesla Motors India and Energy Private Limited in February, based in the tech center of Bengaluru in Karnataka.

While the largest economy in South Asia offers tremendous growth potential in the electric vehicle market, the country’s demographics could pose a serious challenge, according to Baisden.

“The supporting guidelines are in place and manufacturers are starting to move in that direction with locally produced cars. But the demographics are different,” noted Baisden.

“It has a much lower median income than the other Asian markets. There is a lot of potential there, but it really comes down to India’s demographics,” she added.

Rivian differs from Tesla in several ways. Tesla has so far grown by selling sporty sedans, a type of vehicle that is falling out of favor with consumers. Tesla plans to build a strangely angular, futuristic pickup truck called the Cybertruck later this year. However, the focus is not yet on trucks and SUVs, which make up 75 percent of the US passenger car market.

Rivian, on the other hand, focuses on making “adventure” vehicles that owners can drive off-road. This means that Rivian doesn’t often compete directly with Tesla. “There is a perception that this is the winner and that is just wrong,” he said. “Consumers need to have different brands and tastes. Our success is by no means mutually exclusive. “

Rebecca Puck Stair is the kind of car buyer Rivian wants to attract. As a Boy Scout in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she has been interested in buying an electric vehicle for a number of years, but requires high ground clearance and four-wheel drive for tasks that take her into the desert. “It didn’t exist in the market,” she said. “A Tesla doesn’t suit my needs.”

She first heard from Rivian about a year ago and the next day put bail on an SUV – like Tesla, the company doesn’t plan to sell through dealers. Ms. Stair saw the cybertruck, but the design is not for her. “It just screams ‘disgusting guy truck'” she said with a laugh.

Rivian’s truck and SUV, which start at $ 67,500, look more conventional than they could have been designed by Land Rover.

Unlike Tesla, which is trying to grow fast, Rivian takes measured steps. Last year, before the pandemic broke out, it was planned to build around 20,000 pickups and SUVs in 2021 and around 40,000 in 2022. An updated outlook has not yet been presented. By the middle of the decade, a production capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year should be achieved in Normal. The company hasn’t disclosed how many orders it has taken, but a spokeswoman said it has customers for all vehicles it expects this year.

And even if other auto startups go public by partnering with shell companies that have bundles of cash and stock listings, Rivian is unwilling to do so. “We want to start, show our skills and let our performance speak for itself before we can deal with the public,” said 38-year-old Scaringe.