China's electric car push lures auto giants

Volkswagen, the German auto giant, is preparing for a swift expansion in its output of electric cars next year — and the biggest jump in production will be in China. General Motors is making China the hub of its electric car research and development. Renault-Nissan, the French and Japanese carmaker, and Ford Motor have hustled to set up joint electric-car ventures in China.

Global automakers see the future of electric cars, and it looks Chinese. The biggest players are shifting crucial scientific and design work to China as the country invests heavily in car-charging stations and research and pushes automakers to embrace battery-powered vehicles.

China underscored that ambition over the weekend, when it said it would eventually ban the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars at an unspecified date.

But the auto industry’s response — moving electric car design and production to China — represents a big risk.

From high-speed trains to wind turbines, China has long prodded American, European and Japanese companies to hand over their know-how in exchange for access to its exciting new market. Then Chinese companies have used that knowledge and lavish government support to take on foreign rivals.

China wants the big players to share their electric car knowledge, too. The foreign automakers face new Chinese regulations that put heavy legal pressure on them to transfer electric-car technology to their local partners. Chinese officials are also set to impose stringent regulations that would force automakers like Volkswagen and GM to sell new-energy cars in the country if they want to continue selling the old-fashioned gasoline-powered types as well.

Still, Western companies say that they know the risks of transferring technology — and that the opportunities could help them reach their own electric car ambitions faster.

 “We are in a learning process with them together,” said Jochem Heizmann, the chief executive of Volkswagen’s China operations. “That process is much faster than we are used to doing these things. In our normal processes, it would not be possible to come to the market next year.”

Electric cars are part of a broader debate about the country’s industrial ambitions. Under a plan called Made in China 2025, China hopes to become a dominant player in a number of other futurist new technologies, like artificial intelligence and robotics. Chinese officials argue that the push will help develop China’s economy and make it less dependent on foreign technology, a dependence that could expose it to security risks.

Some business groups and lawmakers — and increasingly, members of President Trump’s administration — say company executives give away valuable trade secrets for the sake of short-term gains.

© 2017 The New York Times News Service