BMW, GM, Toyota Face Declining Market Share in China Amid EV Transition: A Shift in Power towards Local Rivals

BMW, General Motors, and Toyota are experiencing further declines in their market positions in China due to the shift to electric vehicles affecting their deliveries. Foreign auto manufacturers are losing more ground to domestic competitors, as evidenced by BMW, VW, and General Motors reporting additional drops in their delivery numbers.

Global brands, via their domestic partnerships, shipped 480,000 units in August, marking a 27% decline from the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Their portion of the market dipped to 36.6% from 48% during the same time frame. BMW's figures dramatically dropped 42% to 34,846 units.

The swift downfall is starkly different from the supremacy of overseas brands just ten years ago, when they held 80 percent of the market share. This was prior to the surge in popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and the increased worries over climate change and carbon output.

"The small number of electric vehicle options provided by overseas companies has led to a decrease in their popularity among Chinese consumers," stated Cui Dongshu, the general secretary of CPCA in Shanghai. "In contrast, domestic manufacturers made significant strides in August with a sharp rise in electric vehicle sales."

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