China Controls 70% of Global EV Production. Here's What That Looks Like Across Southeast Asia.

EV adoption was already accelerating across Asia before energy prices climbed, but elevated oil costs have added urgency to a shift that was well underway. The BBC World Service's Asia Specific podcast brought together Hannah Miao, China economy reporter at the Wall Street Journal, and Theo Leggett, the BBC's transport correspondent, to examine what China's industrial position means for auto markets across the region. According to the International Energy Agency, China now controls more than 70 percent of global EV production. More than half the cars sold in China today are electric or hybrid. Chinese manufacturers have moved in a few years from strong regional competitors to globally dominant exporters, and the pace is not slowing.

The episode traces how that dominance is extending into Southeast Asia through factory construction, not just exports. Thailand has positioned itself as a regional manufacturing hub and attracted several Chinese brands with local content incentives. Chinese manufacturers are also expanding into Malaysia and Indonesia. In Vietnam, local brand VinFast holds a strong lead in the EV market and Chinese automakers are still working to gain meaningful ground. Singapore saw BYD finish as the country's top car brand by total sales last year. The hosts note that government policy has been central throughout: China began EV subsidies around 2009, used public procurement to create early volume, and required domestically made batteries in subsidy-eligible vehicles, a rule that helped suppliers like CATL build the scale they now operate at globally.

The conversation addresses several contested questions directly. On the cleanliness of EVs powered by grids that still draw on fossil fuels, Leggett points to vehicle-to-grid technology and smart charging as mechanisms that allow EVs to store and return renewable energy, making the answer more nuanced than the simple grid-mix argument suggests. On trade tensions, the episode notes that BYD has been deliberate about not aggressively undercutting European competitors, pricing at a level that gains share without triggering the kind of response that brought additional tariffs from Brussels and Washington. The Jaecoo 7, a brand under the Chery group, became the UK's best-selling car in the month preceding the episode. Malaysia's government is reported to be negotiating rules requiring 80 percent of cars built in a proposed BYD factory there to be exported, reflecting a tension between wanting Chinese investment while protecting local automakers.

Bottom line: This episode is a useful, grounded look at a story that gets oversimplified in both directions. The Chinese advantage in EVs is real and structural, not just a function of cheap labor or subsidies. What remains genuinely uncertain is how many current Chinese brands survive the brutal domestic price war long enough to capitalize on their global opportunity.