Canada has just followed the U.S. by imposing a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese
electric vehicles from October 12. These moves much the same as the
Australian Government imposed to protect our local car industry when Holden,
Ford and Toyota were still manufacturing cars here. The Australian new car
landscape will be totally different next year with the loss of established brands
like Citroen and the arrival of around 12 new brands from China – names like
Xpeng, GAC Motor, Geely Auto, Zeekr, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, Nio, Skywell, Changan
and Jetour. I’ve said for some time that early adopters of electric cars are going
to suffer from poor resale – two new car dealers told me this week they could not
get anyone to provide a trade in price on a Tesla Model 3, especially models
getting towards the end of their battery warranty. I’m David Berthon