CHINA’S AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY SAIC IN THE RACE TO TOPPLE BMW AND MERCEDES BENZ.
Diana Kibuuka
Shangai Automotive Industry Corporation, (SAIC) China’s largest state-owned automaker is propelling to topple,Germany’s Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) and Mercedes Benz companies in the race towards Zero Emissions Vehicles.
The Auto Environmental Guide 2023, tracks carmakers’ decarbonisation efforts by the world’s 15 largest traditional automakers and these were evaluated basing on three categories: (1) combustion engine vehicle phase-out; (2) supply chain decarbonisation; and (3) resource reduction and efficiency. The weighting of each category corresponds to lifecycle emissions of the average passenger vehicle.
The 2023 Annual Greenpeace East Asia Auto Ranking has placed SAIC in the 3rdposition out of the key 15 world’s largest traditional automakers, basing on their journey to phase-out combustion engine vehicles. – SAIC scored 30.93% with a total score of 35.5, and in the 1st position is Mercedes Benzwith a Zero Emission Vehicle production in 2022 at 7.25%, with a total score of 41.1 and in the 2nd position is BMW at 10.32% with a total score of 40.0.
SAIC reported the highest volume of Electric Vehicle sales, but took just third place due to its slow progress on supply chain decarbonization, while Suzuki, Great Wall Motor and Toyota received the lowest scores in the ranking. Toyota is the world’s largest automaker, yet fewer than one in 400 vehicles sold by Toyota in 2022 were Battery Electric Vehicles – Suzuki sold zero Battery Electric Vehicles in2022.
SAIC is theonly automaker included in the ranking with sizable zero-emission vehicle sales
in India, Thailand, Indonesia and with a plan to build an electric vehicle factory in Europe.
Early this year,SAIC Managing Director on international business Yu De, confirmed to media that,
their company is looking for a site in Europe to set up the industry though he didn’t provide the details. SAIC is also pushing sales in Mexico since it entered the market in 2020. In March, this year
the company launched a new self-operated sea route from China to Mexico for shipping vehicles.
Greenpeaceurges automakers to adopt ambitious zero-emission vehicle transition strategies
worldwide. The transition to electric vehicles must be implemented alongside investment in battery recycling, decarbonisation of the steel supply chain, and a just transition for auto industry workers.
“Unfortunately,auto making giants like Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai aren’t reducing their
emissions as quickly as many people believe. Leading automakers need to accelerate the shift away from fossil fossils, rather than boasting about their minimal Electric Vehicle sales share,” says Greenpeace East Asia DeputyProgram Director, Ada Kong.
China is byfar the biggest player when it comes to Electrical Vehicles – China Sold More
Electric Vehicles in 2022 than the Rest of the World Combined, and 22% of passenger vehicles sold in China were all-electric, which adds up to 4.4 million sales. That’s higher than the 3 million Electric Vehicles sold in the rest of the world combined.
China remained the leader in global Battery Electric Vehicle sales followed by USA and Germany. Battery Electric Vehicle sales in the USA grew by almost 57% the highest among the top 3 Electric Vehicle markets.
According to the International Energy Agency, global carbon emissions need to decrease by at
least 3% per year until 2030 to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. For the automotive industry, a full phase-out of combustion engine vehicle sales is necessary for the industry to be compatible with a 2050 net zero emissions future.
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