Thanks for joining me. European car manufacturers are being forced into a price war with Chinese companies as the EU pushes ahead with plans to ban combustion engines, the boss of BMW has warned.
BMW chief executive Oliver Zipse has said he considered China entering the European market as an “imminent risk” after the development of its electric car market over the last 15 years enveloped much of the world’s battery supply chains.
He said that companies like BMW will likely be shielded from competition from China’s manufacturers, which will target buyers of cheaper vehicles.
Speaking ahead of the annual IAA Mobility conference in Munich, Mr Zipse said: “The base car market segment will either vanish or will not be done by European manufacturers.”
It comes after BYD, China’s biggest electric carmaker, declared war on Western rivals by calling on the country’s auto manufacturers to unite and “demolish” their competition.
In February, the European Parliament voted to approve a new law banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2035. In Britain, the Government plans to ban the sale of new cars powered solely by petrol and diesel from 2030.
5 things to start your day
1) Scramble to secure more power for Rishi Sunak’s supercomputer lab | Overloaded grid risks stalling PM’s bid to establish Britain as an international AI hub
2) ‘Cost of owning crisis’ as 50,000 fall into negative equity | Affected homeowners face difficulty selling or remortgaging as house prices plunge
3) Britain losing £750m from Chinese holidaymakers because of tourist tax | Shoppers are travelling to France, Italy and Spain instead, report finds
4) Gatwick second runway won’t clash with net zero, says airport chief | Stewart Wingate insists expansion will boost economy, as Rishi Sunak prepares to reject climate advice
5) The tycoons building an empire out of Britain’s bust beer brands | After first rescuing Black Sheep, the financiers have swooped on more struggling craft brewers
What happened overnight
Stocks were higher in Asia after Wall Street was boosted by a report that signalled the US jobs market, while still healthy, is showing some signs of cooling.
That supported investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve may soon ease up on its campaign to slow the U.S. economy by raising interest rates.
“It appears that global markets are primed to be smitten with the idea of a ‘Nirvana’ Fed tightening outcome, entailing the ‘immaculate dis-inflation’ that does not cause employment pain,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.
Fresh stimulus from China’s financial regulators for the beleaguered property sector also supported buying. They have cut down-payment requirements for first and second-time home buyers and lowered rates on existing mortgages, noted Yeap Jun Rong of IG.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 2.4pc to 18,828.91 while the Shanghai Composite index added 1pc to 3,166.62.
Tokyo stocks ended higher, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index adding 0.7pc to close at 32,939.18, while the broader Topix index closed up 1pc to a fresh 33-year high of 2,373.73.
In Seoul, the Kospi edged 0.2pc higher, to 2,569.52. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5pc to 7,312.60.
Shares also rose in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
US markets will be closed today for the Labor Day holiday.
