@interfluidity "competetive" meaning what exactly? I somehow doubt that the carmakers are competing with each other in any meaningful way, otherwise the needs of the customers would be met by at least one.
Got that here in germany too, they ALL make expensive cars for people that have less and less money.

@admitsWrongIfProven China sells EVs for lower than the cost of the cheapest internal-combustion-based vehicles available in the West. Tens of firms actively compete. BYD is biggest and best known, but had nowhere near the dominance marquis firms from Germany or the US have relative to their markets. 1/

@admitsWrongIfProven There’s a broader critique about car culture generally (and I think China has made a terrible mistake by following in Western footsteps and embracing it). But conditional on that, China’s EV market is as competitive, including on price, as any automobile market except perhaps the very early, preconsolidation, days of Western industry.

@interfluidity What frightens me most is that the openly authoritarian regime is doing better.
If feels like the side effect will be declared the cure soon, implementing more open authoritarianism while continuing to fail.