For Eric Huang, a Guangdong-based healthcare entrepreneur who owns a Lamborghini Aventador and a Tesla Model S Plaid, the appeal of Chinese premium electric vehicles (EVs) has grown as their technology has caught up with his expectations.
“I hold electric cars to strict safety standards, so I used to stick to Tesla,” Huang said. But he added that domestic brands had now met his standards.
His next purchase, he said, would be a six-seat premium electric minivan equivalent from a Chinese brand, with a budget of about 1 million yuan (US$148,000).
Huang’s choice shows that even while China’s ultra-luxury car market has slowed overall, a growing segment of drivers, with a penchant for domestic brands, are still opening their wallets for top-end EVs.
Buyers, sellers and analysts said the trend increasingly hinged on whether domestic brands could meet standards long associated with foreign marques. Technology, safety and driving experience were now decisive factors.
A report by Beijing-based consultancy Guanyan Tianxia on China’s luxury car market and investment from 2025 to 2032 said Chinese luxury-car buyers were becoming younger and more professionally diverse, with technology and driving experience increasingly outweighing the prestige of traditional luxury names.