EV Chinese cars 2024: Mitsubishi boss predicts Australia ‘bloodbath’

An Australian motoring boss has exposed the grim future of a Chinese EV “bloodbath” dumping ground if one critical step doesn’t happen.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia chief executive Shaun Westcott has predicted a turbulent period for the Australian automotive market, warning of a “bloodbath” as an influx of new vehicles, particularly from China, reach showrooms.

More than a dozen new brands including BYD, Chery and Zeekr have set their sights on Australia as they expand beyond China.

“Our country doesn’t have an industry to protect, everyone thinks this is the place to be, we don’t have any tariffs, we don’t have any barriers,” he said.

Chinese brands attempting to expand overseas have hit roadblocks in Europe and the United States, where legislators are attempting to introduce tariffs to penalise foreign EVs and protect local markets.

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Mitsubishi boss Shaun Westcott has predicted an EV bloodbath in Australia due to a lack of barriers that make our market a dumping ground for Chinese brands. Picture: Russell Millard

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But Australia’s open market structure also makes it an attractive dumping ground for excess production.

“There’s going to be a plethora of new brands who have economic troubles, where they have excess capacity, they will look for places to dump their cars,” he said.

The current wave of new entrants are largely from China, and they’re offering aggressive pricing and tech-savvy options.

However, Westcott believes that this surge in vehicles will lead to a market correction.

“We’re going to go into a period of excess supply, and not everybody will survive that, and there’s going to be a bit of a bloodbath,” he said.

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Australia’s automotive market is considered mature.

However, the introduction of new technology and powertrains will lead to increased costs for many automakers.

“I guess the reality is that with new technology and new powertrains, and this is inevitable, there’s going to be an increase in price, in most products, we see, we’re going to see a bit of a bloodbath in the short term,” he said.

This combined with the mass of new vehicles will drive heavy discounting as companies try to compete for market share.

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More electric cars will soon flood the Australian market. Picture: AFP

A few months ago, major importer Inchcape announced it would withdraw Citroen from the Australian market and focus on cheaper Chinese cars from Deepal and Foton.

“So there’s going to be a lot of cars coming into Australia, because everyone thinks this is the place to be. Where in the world can I go?

“We don’t have any tariffs, we don’t have any barriers, we don’t have anything else,” he said.

While the surge may offer short term benefits for consumers, Westcott predicts that not all automakers will survive.

“So we’re going to see a lot of discounting happening, seeing an excess supply of cars in the short term.

“But the law of markets, law of economics, is that the law corrects itself,” he said.

The market correction is already underway, as automakers deal with oversupply and decreasing prices.

Despite the predicted market-shake up, Westcott remains confident that Mitsubishi reputation for reliability and durability will allow the company to withstand the pressures of a market correction.