Premium Electric Cars Start to Lose Appeal, Defeated in Price War

KatadataOTO – China is one of the countries with the highest sales of electric cars. However, recent reports indicate that the premium EV (Electric Vehicle) market is experiencing a sales decline there.

Even though many brands have been aggressively launching premium electric cars, especially throughout 2024. This includes product lines from Zeekr, Xpeng, to BYD.

In terms of price, they are indeed more expensive compared to other EVs commonly sold in China. In their home country, premium electric cars are sold for over 300,000 yuan (Rp 663.6 million).

Therefore, despite many new models, premium electric cars are considered to have a limited market and limited growth opportunities.

Photo : Carnewschina

“I think manufacturers will slow down the launch of new models in 2025 and focus on providing upgrades for existing models,” said Phate Zhang, Founder of CnEVPost, quoted from Carscoops, Saturday (4/1).

Moreover, according to him, there was a decline in overall electric car sales. So there is a greater challenge for premium electric car manufacturers.

Premium EV sales in China account for 10 percent of the total electric car sales there. Its growth has slowed for various reasons, but one of them is the price war and the emergence of many new competitors, also from China.

“Only a few companies have succeeded in the premium market, many of them are struggling due to weak sales and investment losses,” said Zhang Xiang, a researcher from the Jiangxi New Energy Technology Institute.

Starting to Flood Indonesia

In Indonesia, many premium electric car manufacturers are confidently offering their product lines, even though their prices are considered high.

Photo : Xpeng

Take Zeekr for example, with its two new models, the Zeekr X and 009. The estimated price for both is between Rp 1.1 billion and Rp 2.7 billion.

Following Zeekr, towards the end of the year, another premium brand from China, Xpeng, will officially sell cars in the country through Erajaya Active Lifestyle.

Two vehicle models are offered in the same segment as Zeekr. Although there is no information on the price yet, it is certain that the price tag will be above Rp 1 billion.