EU should lower China tariffs: Mercedes

The chief executive of Mercedes-Benz suggested EU to lower tariffs for Chinese imported electric vehicles, stressing fair competition is necessary when BYD (1211) may not be able to meet sales targets overseas.

Ola Kallenius, the boss of Mercedes-Benz, told the Financial Times that the imported cars from China to Europe are a natural process of market competition and can help the carmakers on the continent improve their technologies and products. He also highlighted that protectionism was "going the wrong way".

The European Commission is considering whether to elevate the tariffs on the EVs from China.

This comes as BYD thinks it may fail to realize an internal goal of selling 400,000 units overseas this year amid a slowdown in global EV sales growth and internal issues, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China's EV giant also has internal disagreements over how fast BYD should capture market share, plus high pricing and quality control, according to the report. BYD sold more than 240,000 EVs in overseas markets last year.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi (1810) said its EV model SU7 will be launched on March 28. Its shares jumped 11.3 percent to HK$14.92, the biggest daily rise in more than a year.

Staff reporter