China’s automakers start 2025 with more EV incentives as price war rages on

China’s automakers start 2025 with more EV incentives as price war rages on

Automotive News Europe — 2025-01-02

Automotive Industry

Chinese electric vehicle makers including Nio and Li Auto have followed market leaders Tesla and BYD in extending consumer incentives in early 2025, as a price war in the world’s largest auto market continues for a third year.

Li Auto announced on 2 January 2025 cash subsidies of 15,000 yuan ($2,055) per new vehicle purchase as well as a three-year, zero-percent interest financing.

Nio launched a similar zero-interest plan on loans for Nio- and Onvo-branded EVs.

The incentives are intended to encourage purchases before a government subsidy program starts in the new year. More than 5.2 m cars sold as of mid-December had benefited from Chinese government subsidies.

China has signaled plans to extend incentives for consumer to trade in older cars and light trucks in 2025, but specifics of the nationwide program remain unclear.

Nanjing, the capital city of eastern China’s Jiangsu province, said this week it would continue to provide subsidies of up to 4,000 yuan per car purchase this year.

Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trn yuan worth of special treasury bonds this year, Reuters has reported, as Beijing ramps up fiscal stimulus to revive a faltering economy partly via subsidy programs.

BYD, which could have outsold Ford and Honda globally in 2024, has been offering discounts of up to 11.5% on two models — one hybrid and one EV — since December 2024.

Tesla, which sparked the price war last year, has extended a 10,000 yuan discount on outstanding loans for the bestselling Model Y in China until the end of this month.

Sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids, known collectively as new energy vehicles in China, surpassed 10 m units last year, thanks to government subsidised trade-ins of up to 20,000 yuan apiece for NEVs.

Nonetheless, autos-related retail sales contracted by 0.7% year-on-year in the first 11 months, versus a 3.5% increase in China’s total retail sales, official data showed, pointing to the impact of price cuts.