New entrants versus establishers in China and US electric vehicle marketplace: a comparative analysis

ABSTRACT

The article looks at the phenomenon of the new entrants surpassing the market establishers in China’s and the USA’s electric vehicle marketplace. Most of the current studies focus on the leading companies having first moves on early technology adoption. Based on the results from the expert interviews and literature review, we compared cases from both China and the USA. The study constructed and validated a framework for a theoretical model for the innovation drive, the technological mode and the business model to explain underlining driving factors and mechanisms where new entrants are taking the lead in the electric vehicle market. Suggestions for both new entrants and establishers are provided based on the established framework.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• case study
• electric vehicle
• leading position
• new entrants
• USA

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 71572093). The authors are grateful for his insightful comments and revision recommendations to this paper from Professor Malcolm Warner.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. BYD, established in 2003, is the first electric vehicle manufacturer in China.

2. SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), established in 1958, is the largest automotive group in China. Details see Section 4.1 in this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant number 71572093].

Notes on contributors

Xianjun Li

Xianjun Li, PhD, is an associate professor at both Department of Automotive Engineering (DAE) and State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy of Tsinghua University. Professor Li is the Director of Center for Automotive Technology, Industry and Innovation of DAE at Tsinghua University. His research focuses on technology evolution, innovation ecosystem, innovation strategy, and business model. He has led over 20 research projects granted or funded by companies and government, such as VW, Ford Asia Pacific, SAIC, National Nature Science Foundation of China.

Wei Liu

Wei Liu is a PhD candidate at Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University. His research interests include innovation strategy and cross-market innovation. Mr. Liu comes from US EV start-up company as the head of strategies where he has actively involved in the electrification of the auto industry and EV market development since 2016, after over 5 years at KPMG Management Consulting in China as the Director leading the automotive practice.

Bowen Zhang

Bowen Zhang is a PhD candidate at Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Department of Automotive Engineering, Tsinghua University. His research interests include electric vehicle, innovation on new entrants, and business models.

Donghui Meng

Donghui Meng is a PhD candidate at Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Department of Automotive Engineering, Tsinghua University. His research interests include core technology, cooperation of industry and university, and technology learning.