Six car brands from the mainland parked themselves in Kowloon Bay recently as part of a drive that uses Hong Kong as a bridge to pivot into southeast Asia.
Their race into the real estate here is spot on: the market share of electric vehicles in Hong Kong had exceeded 63 percent by June, according to the Transport Department. And it is this appetite for sales that saw China edge ahead of Japan in becoming the biggest automobile exporting country in the world last year.
BYD, the best-selling Chinese EV brand in Hong Kong last year with more than 3,700 cars, has, for one, opened nine exhibition halls and four big after-sales service centers in Hong Kong via two agencies, JC Motor and Harmony Auto.
JC Motor opened up not only a BYD exhibition hall in Golden Harvest Building at 15 Wang Chiu Road in Kowloon Bay but also a more than 60,000 square feet after-sales service center nearby, in Sunshine Kowloon Bay Cargo Centre.
JC said the center integrates vehicle display, delivery and maintenance in the form of 10 independent delivery areas and 13 intelligent vehicle lifting and maintenance workshops.
MG, a car brand owned by SAIC Motor, which sold nearly 1,200 EVs in Hong Kong last year, opened its fifth showroom at Billion Centre at 1 Wang Kwong Road, Kowloon Bay, just before the Lunar New Year.
At 6,000 sq ft, the showroom is also the brand's flagship store in Kowloon.
A full line of EVs is on display at the MG showroom, including the ZS EV, the MG4 and the MG9 luxury seven-seater car, as well as the electric convertible supercar Cyberster.
The showroom's interior features giant LED walls that immerses visitors in a whole new digital interactive experience.
Agents say there is a possibility of introducing gasoline or hybrid cars this year.
Dongfeng's Seres EV brand has also set up its first local sales center.
The showroom - at Megacube, 8 Wang Kwong Road - is offering, for the time being, an entry-level Seres 3 electric SUV that will, with the "one for one" EV replacement scheme, cost a mere HK$208,000.
The one-for-one scheme is a tax relief scheme launched by the Hong Kong government to encourage more people to use EVs, with exemptions for first registration tax concession of up to HK$172,500.
Going all out is Aion, a new energy brand from GAC Group, which opened up its first showroom at 14 Wang Tai Road at the end of January.
On show is the brand's four pure EVs, including the Aion Y Plus small SUV, which is the first to go on sale in Hong Kong, priced below HK$250,000 under the "one-for-one" scheme.
Also plugging into the electric wave is Dah Chong Hong Holdings, long based in Kowloon Bay, with a Chinese brand Neta last year/
Its AYA small EV is priced at just HK$188,800 but without a "one-for-one" offer.
The flagship store of BYD's independent car brand Denza is also scheduled to open in Kowloon Bay this year.
Zung Fu Group, appointed by BYD as Denza's Hong Kong agent last year, is said to have leased premises at phase three of Enterprise Square, 39 Wang Chiu Road, that will result in the creation of a showroom measuring more than 10,000 sq ft.
The store will hawk the new Denza D9 flagship electric seven-passenger car.
Though the price has yet to be finalized, the agent said it has already been receiving reservations from Hong Kong buyers, and the first delivery is expected to be in the fourth quarter.
