SHANGHAI — Automakers including Volkswagen Group and General Motors could have considerable unused production capacity for conventionally powered vehicles in China by 2030 if they do not speed up the transition to electric vehicles, Greenpeace said on Thursday.
As demand for new energy vehicles including electric and plug-in hybrids grows, new NEV-only producers such as BYD will take market share and leave legacy automakers sitting on wasted production space geared toward unwanted internal combustion engine cars, the organization said.
Over-capacity in China's combustion engine light-vehicle market is a long-standing issue, with a ban in place by regulators since 2017 on the construction of new assembly plants.
By the end of 2021, China had total annual production capacity for 40.89 million passenger vehicles of all fuel types with a utilization rate of 52.5 percent, according to research and data from the China Passenger Car Association.
Greenpeace estimated that if NEVs make up 40 percent of sales by 2030 - a conservative forecast considering 30 percent of sales this year so far were of NEVs - a third of ICE production capacity at 10 major automakers including Volkswagen Group, Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. could end up unused.