BEIJING: Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) makers are facing one of their biggest challenges yet: convincing drivers in the oil-rich Middle East to switch to battery-powered cars.
With EV demand slowing at home, and companies facing substantial import tariffs in the United States as well as a European Union (EU) probe into Chinese subsidies, automakers view the region as a major growth opportunity that, so far, is largely untapped. Across the six Gulf states, including oil majors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), electric cars account for just 0.4% of the passenger-vehicle market.
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