Driving the EV Forward_ 3 Brand Strategies from China's Newest Players

By Sergio Morales, Brand Strategy Consultant

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A category in transformation. Products that keep advancing. New meanings emerging. The electric vehicle era has rewritten the industry's rules: it's no longer about shaving off a tenth of a second in the 0-to-100 sprint. Delivering instant power is now the baseline. The features today focus on range and speed... of charge. Times change.

Whenever a category evolves, the mental framework is redefined. It's a battle between what stays and what changes. In this context, some brands anchor themselves to what's familiar (the car), while others lean toward what's yet to come (electric). That's why I find it fascinating to compare three distinct strategies from three new entrants to the European vehicle space, all hailing from China, the new hub of vehicle electrification.

Reviving an Existing Brand: MG

Chances are, you've come across it (again). The brand capitalizes on its European heritage for salience, though less so in meaning (as it returns—without having to navigate a live perception transition—as a low-cost option rather than its classic sporty identity). People already recognize the name, and the brand shares the expected category car codes, so MG doesn't need to introduce itself. There's no sign they're newcomers, no sign they're not European, no excessive sign they're EVs. This is precisely its biggest advantage, and maintaining it will be its main challenge. It is a double-edged sword working brilliantly for the moment: they are selling— and selling a lot.

If you ask me, while MG has found short-term success by filling gaps left by some European manufacturers with EVs that look like (traditional) cars and affordable prices, they may face a future challenge if consumer perceptions of what it means to be "electric" and "Chinese" become dominant and desirable. Only time will tell.

Introducing a "New" Brand: BYD

A game change always opens doors to new competitors. We didn't know them in Europe, but BYD arrives with a strong purpose—"cooling the Earth by 1ºC". Translation: sustainability. My question: Isn't that what the entire EV category is about? They anchored themselves to the electric category and forgot to stand for something (relatively) different to drive brand growth. So, at the same price, I'd still prefer a Tesla.

Although they're market leaders in their home country, in the Old Continent "everything is yet to be done, and everything is possible". However, let's not forget that it took 15 to 20 years for Japanese and South Korean brands to build the mental and physical availability to be considered a solid alternative to the European ones. In this context, BYD carries the responsibility of defining what the Chinese electric car category stands for while carving out its distinct identity. In a world moving at lightning speed, this probably won't take as long as it did for Asian neighbours, but it won't be easy either.

That being said, their sponsorship of the UEFA Euro in Germany is a bold declaration of intent. Because of the event's scale. Because they're doing it in Europe's leading car manufacturing country. Because they've taken over the spot Volkswagen held in the previous edition.

Brand Stretching: Xiaomi

It's in our pockets, but we didn't expect to see them on the road. Xiaomi's brand stretching into the electric vehicles hides the framework's most ground-breaking vision: EVs are more about "technology" than "cars", and this is well-reflected in the innovative approach of its products: autonomous driving, AI, screens all around, and integration into the Xiaomi ecosystem. Indeed, there is no lack of future.

But here's the big question: will the mass market accept them in this mental space? Will consumers prioritize connectivity and chips over mechanical reliability? Will terms like "bug", "smoothness", or "update policy" also be transferred to the automotive sector? And, above all, can a brand that wants to ''have it all'' actually ''be it all''? In short, they'll need to build complementary meanings beyond their current ones to capitalize on their salience, since flooding the car market is different from flooding the smartphone one (right, Apple?).

I'm curious—will we also see Redmi for entry-level models?

Like in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, these three brands are after a prize they can't achieve without the others. The ''Was" (MG), the ''Arrives" (BYD), and the ''Comes" (Xiaomi). A three-way perception duel for the gold of a market still under construction — where consumers first need to be convinced of the "electric", and then of the "Chinese" (to a greater or lesser extent).