China’s decision to end a more than decade-long subsidy for electric vehicle purchases has forced car makers, including Tesla, to deepen discounts to maintain sales as demand eases in the world's largest market.
The government originally planned to phase out the support programme for EV makers and battery suppliers by the end of 2020, but extended it until the end of December in response to the pandemic.
As China grapples with the upheaval of an upsurge in Covid-19 cases and as its economy grows at its slowest pace in decades, Tesla, Xpeng and SAIC-GM-Wuling have opted to hold consumer prices flat in January.
The subsidy accounted for about 3 per cent to 6 per cent of the cost of the best-selling electric vehicles in China last year, a Reuters analysis found.
Other EV makers, including Tesla's larger rival BYD and SAIC-Volkswagen, have raised prices for some models but opted to absorb most of the cost of the subsidy, the Reuters tally showed.
The subsidy, paid to the car maker at the point of purchase, began in 2009 and was scaled back over time. It paid out nearly $15 billion to encourage EV purchases through 2021, according to an estimate by China Merchants Bank International.
As some consumers rushed to take advantage of the subsidy while there was time, BYD doubled its retail sales in China in December from a year earlier, while Tesla's retail sales in China fell by 42 per cent.
JP Morgan said in a research note on Thursday that it expects “a transitional pain period”, with January and February industrywide sales of EVs and plug-ins in China down between 40 per cent and 60 per cent from year-end levels. BYD raised prices on its best-selling EVs.
Tesla, meanwhile, is defending its market share by selling the basic, rear-wheel drive Model Y for 288,900 yuan ($42,053.63) in China, unchanged from December.
It is also offering another 10,000 yuan in cash incentives and insurance rebates for buyers in January, which means it has effectively cut prices in China by up to 12 per cent since early September, when that model was sold for 316,900 yuan.
Buyers of BYD's best-selling electric cars have to pay 2,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan more in January, depending on the model they choose, compared to those who placed the orders in 2022, posted prices show. That represents a price rise of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
China's Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in December it expected sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids to grow by 35 per cent in 2023, accounting for a third of total vehicle sales.
But William Li, chief executive of car maker Nio, said it could take until May for China's EV market to begin to recover.
“It will take time for both the supply chain and consumer demand to recover,” Mr Li said last month.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The%20specs
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
DSC Eagles 23 Dubai Hurricanes 36
Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3
Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
