Outside of North America and Europe, Chinese automakers are taking market share with traditional vehicles, not EVs.

While the prolific “spin doctors” portray China as an EV wonderland worth emulating, China is aggressively taking market share with their ICE vehicles across the world. In the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand, etc. Chinese ICE vehicles now have a significant footprint.

In these markets, Chinese ICE vehicles, both gasoline and diesel, from light vehicles through commercial medium trucks, are replacing North American, European, Japanese and Korean vehicles. Many of these markets do not have electric infrastructure or the broad consumer interest for significant EV adoption. In many cases by 2030, EV share may be less than 20% and limited to larger cities and towns.

Microcosm

Jamaica is a microcosm of this. Strong car culture, coupled with limited public transportation options (lack of intercity train service for example), and car ownership being a major status symbol, gives Jamaica a high level of cars per capita.

Legacy brands are well represented in the Jamaican market with a long history of good market share. There are active authorized dealerships, some with multiple locations (Kingston & Montego Bay, etc.), for Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Land-Rover, Ford and Jeep, plus commercial truck brands Isuzu and Hino. Of note, the Toyota Jamaica dealership is actually a Toyota corporate dealership (https://toyotajamaica.com/company-overview/) and operates 3 locations in Jamaica.

US proximity

Jamaica’s proximity to Miami, plus availability of roll on / roll off shipping, facilitates easy importation by end users of new and pre-owned American pick-up trucks and commercial medium-trucks purchased in Florida. This gave American medium and heavy trucks a dominant position in the large dump truck and tractor trailer segments. This has also facilitated the importation of new and used Teslas.

Then came the Chinese. Over the past 8 years, Chinese brands have gained strong market share at the expense of the legacy brands, and the end user imports from Florida. Most of these Chinese vehicles are ICE vehicles, including diesels. The table below gives a quick overview:

 

Manufacturer	Brand	Vehicle Types	Power Plant
Beijing Automotive Industry Group (BAIC)	Beijing	Small / Medium size SUVs	ICE & Hybrid
BYD	BYD	Cars, SUVs and Pick-up	EV ICE Hybrid (pick-up only)
Changan	Changan	Medium Pick-up, small car, small van, small pick-up	ICE
Chery	Jetour	Small / Medium size SUVs	Majority ICE
Chery	Jaecoo	Small / Medium size SUVs	ICE & EV
Chery	Omoda	Small / Medium size SUVs	ICE & EV
Foton	Foton (light vehicles)	Pick-up trucks, vans, small commercial box trucks	ICE Diesel
Foton	Foton (Medium truck)	Commercial Medium Truck	ICE Diesel
Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC)	EMZOOM & EMKOO	Small SUVs	ICE
Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC)	AION	Small SUV	EV
Great Wall Motor (GWM)	Haval	Small / Medium size SUVs	ICE
Great Wall Motor (GWM)	Tank	Medium / Large Premium SUVs	ICE Hybrid
Great Wall Motor (GWM)	GWM	Medium Pick-ups	ICE Diesel & ICE Gas Hybrid
MG	MG	Small SUVs	2 ICE / 1 EV
Shacman	Shacman	Commercial Medium Truck	ICE Diesel
China National Heavy Duty Truck Group	SINOTRUK	Commercial Light & Medium Truck	ICE Diesel
China National Heavy Duty Truck Group	HOWO	Commercial Medium Truck	ICE Diesel

The Chinese are rapidly growing their share of the ICE market in Jamaica and many other countries outside North America and Europe. While Western Governments and Western Auto Manufacturers, under pressure by Western Governments, are distracted with the “EV Fantasy”, China is taking the rest of the world with a vibrant dual strategy, ICE or EV…China wants market dominance. Will we wake up before it’s too late?