How long does it take for an empire to collapse? In the automotive world, it seems, a few years. While European and American giants were wondering whether to abandon the internal combustion engine, Chinese companies have quietly built a manufacturing ecosystem that now dominates the electric car market in an almost embarrassing way.
The numbers are merciless: out of 20 leading manufacturers in the battery-powered electric car segment, well twelve come from the Middle Kingdom. Not a simple numerical prevalence, but an exponential growth that is redrawing the global balance of the sector.
Chinese Electric Cars, The Numbers of a Crushing Domination
Just look at the ranking of the world's leading producers to understand the extent of the phenomenon. At the top we still find TeslaBut with BYD that is following it ever closer, now ready to definitively overtake it. Which, on the financial front, has already happened: the Chinese giant closed 2024 with a record turnover of 99 billion euros, surpassing the 90 billion of Elon Musk's company.
The most impressive data, however, still concerns the overall presence: Among the top ten global producers, five are Chinese companies, almost all of which are growing strongly. The Dragon patrol is becoming even more numerous, with seven manufacturers in particular showing dizzying growth rates.
Geely, third place, recorded a +58%, even surpassing the group Volkswagen. Changan marked a +43%, while other companies such as Nio, Leapmotor e Xpeng are growing at a sustained pace. Only Gac shows a 20% decline, the only exception in an otherwise triumphant panorama.
Strategic control of the supply chain
The strength of Chinese electric cars is the control of the production chain, starting from the most strategic component: the batteries. CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) dominates the global market with a share exceeding 38%, followed by another Chinese company, the aforementioned BYD, which holds almost 17%.
Together, these two companies control more than half of the global electric vehicle battery market. An impressive duopoly that leaves Western companies only the crumbs. South Korean LG Energy Solution defends itself with an honorable third place (9,8% share), but the distance from the leaders is abysmal.
As with other sectors, this supremacy is not the result of chance, but of a very specific strategy. China has invested heavily in the sector, considering it strategic both to reduce dependence on oil imports and to improve air quality in cities. The government has offered generous subsidies to producers and buyers, investing over $230 billion between 2009 and 2023 to support China's electric car industry.
The infrastructure that makes the difference
While Europe and the United States are still debating how to implement charging networks, China has already built over 8,5 million public charging points, more than the rest of the world combined. This has eliminated one of the main obstacles to the mass adoption of electric vehicles: range anxiety.
Furthermore, continuous innovation has led to impressive advances in charging times as well. BYD recently introduced a technology capable of charging an electric vehicle in just five minutes, twice as fast as Tesla's latest generation Superchargers.
The consequences for Western industry
The growing Chinese dominance is putting European and American producers in serious difficulty. In Europe, Tesla sales plunged 49% in first two months of 2025, while Musk's company's market share fell to 1,1%.
Meanwhile, BYD has almost doubled its sales in the old continent (+94%), preparing for a possible even more aggressive expansion. And this despite the duties imposed by the European Union to try to stem the invasion of Chinese vehicles.
The reality is that the Western automotive industry risks finding itself in an increasingly marginal position. While European and American manufacturers struggle to adapt to the electric transition, held back by high costs and strategic uncertainties, Chinese manufacturers continue to launch new models at a rapid pace, with competitive prices and cutting-edge technologies.
Electric cars, an almost impossible challenge between the Chinese and the West
For Europe and the United States, recovering lost ground appears increasingly difficult. It would require massive investments in batteries, charging infrastructure and the development of new models, as well as government incentives comparable to those in China.
But time is running out, and the technological and industrial gap continues to widen. The battle for the future of the automobile now seems decided, with China poised to dominate the sector for decades to come. As also highlighted by this analysis, the global technological landscape is no longer a simple one-way flow from West to East, but a plural ecosystem in which China has been able to gain leadership in strategic sectors.
