Asian battery manufacturers from South Korea, China, and Japan maintain a strong hold on the global battery mineral market despite a temporary slowdown in electric vehicle demand…In the first quarter of this year, companies from these three countries accounted for 94% of global purchases of critical battery minerals. While China holds a significant advantage in securing overseas minerals with government support, South Korea remains over 90% dependent on China for critical materials such as precursors and graphite…The gap is even wider in securing raw materials. A July 2024 survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed that among the three countries, China holds stakes in 407 mines producing lithium, nickel and cobalt, the three key minerals that make up half the cost of cathode materials. Japan has stakes in 31 mines and South Korea in 15. China’s state-owned enterprises have aggressively secured major mining assets overseas, especially in Africa, while Japan relies on partnerships between private trading companies and state-backed firms to obtain mineral resources.

Chinese automakers captured the biggest share of Europe’s electric-vehicle market in nine months, regaining ground lost after the European Union imposed tariffs last year…Manufacturers led by by BYD Co. grabbed 8.9% of the region’s EV market in April, the most since July, according to researcher Dataforce. Chinese hybrid and combustion models also gained traction.

Tensions between two of China's largest automakers erupted into the open on Friday when a BYD executive slammed as alarmist comments by the chief of Great Wall Motor that called the industry "unhealthy"…Shares in Chinese automakers such as BYD, Nio and XPeng tumbled this week after the chairman of Great Wall Motor, Wei Jianjun, worried openly about China's deepening price war, with pricing pressure hammering the bottom lines of car companies and suppliers…In his remarks last Friday Wei even drew a parallel to Evergrande, saying that the industry had its own version of the Chinese property developer that was liquidated last year after a major debt crisis, but did not name any names…In a lengthy post on Weibo, Li defended BYD's 70% debt-to-asset ratio and over 580 billion yuan debt by making comparisons against the likes of Ford, Boeing and Toyota. He said this was the result of BYD growing rapidly even as some rivals had stagnated. He did not specify names…China's auto price war is showing little signs of abating despite expressions of concern from both Chinese automakers and industry players. Several automakers followed BYD in offering fresh incentives on cars this week.