The introduction of electric vehicles at a very rapid speed by the Chinese automobile manufacturers, headed by BYD, are literally dethroning the Japanese car manufacturers in some parts of Southeast Asia, and this is more or less changing the aspect of car in the area. Chinese EVs are only sold more in 7 other months than they currently are in China and (even more) Indonesia, while Japan has all 10 best-selling EVs within the top position in Singapore.
EVs in China have taken over Southeast Asian marketplaces
The light vehicle sales in the whole ASEAN-6 slumped by 5.4 percent to 3.28 million last year. However, with the addition of several new brands, such as Chinese brands, BYD, Chery, and Wuling, filling up the ditch, EVs are now unfortunately gaining market share quickly, taking up 13% in 2024, and that’s thanks to emerging entrance brands.
The total car sales in the country are declining though they form 8.6 percent in the first half year 2025, but car manufactories in China growing in the country that has been the cradle the Japanese car manufactories. The car industry association Gaikindo had issued a report according to which in the category of EVs top ten successful in the country by March 2025 will be exclusively Chinese cars, and on the list not a single Japanese car.
News Asia reports the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) already passed the sales in 2020 in Singapore in only seven months, and the obscure brands are slowly eating rubbing larger manufacturer BYD, which holds a lion’s share of the market. The data released by the Land Transport Authority shows in the period of January-July 7,796 Chinese EVs were registered in this single month, which is more than a whole year of the results of 2024.
Policy advantages of China help in the development of the automotive sector
The entry of new players is possible in case of the success of BYD. Even though BYD is a leader it is slipping. It recorded 79.7 percent of the total of Chinese EVs last year. This is now reduced to 70.9 per cent only in 2025, as other competing brand creep in. Still, there are 15 Chinese brands already here in Singapore without having BYD under them: Avatr, Chery, Deepal, Dongfeng, EvEasy, GAC, Geely, Great Wall, MG, Maxus, Neta, Seres, Skyworth, Xpeng and Zeekr. In January and up to July, however, the two sold 2,264 EVs, compared to 1,581 EVs sold in 11 such brands during the entire year of 2024.
The success of China dominance in EV is policy-based. Over a decade plus, Beijing plugged subsidies, incentives and industrial aid into EVs and built the world’s largest market and the wherewithal to buy cars. On the one hand, EVs are less complex as compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles; engines are now replaced with motors, software is the most crucial driver of innovation, and the costs and performance of EVs are defined by the battery.
That Indonesia is a target market war front
Indonesia is the last reward. It is the biggest car market in the region of the Shangina, and wants 20% of EVs penetrated by 2025, and has a blessing: the biggest nickel deposits in the world. BYD has 1.3 billion plant investment at Subang, West Java, where it will build 150,000 vehicles per year and will also employ 18,000 people by 2025. Already existing projects are also coming in with other competitors like GAC Alon and Great Wall Motors.
Chinese EVs have both an existential and transformative threat and opportunity to the automotive industry in Southeast Asia, which, in effect, calls into question the dominance of Japan as part and parcel of history. The market penetration has been high, and this indicates that such industries can be changed in a couple of years with the support of the policy, technological innovations and the positioning strategies.