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China, the new Japan

I remember when I was a kid at primary school, the roads were filled with Fords, Holdens, Triumphs, Austins and a swathe of other cars manufactured in the UK and sometimes assembled domestically.

By the time I reached high-school however, things had started to change.

The British cars, Fords and Holdens were being replaced by far more economical Japanese vehicles, such as the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic.

Not only were these new players from Japan cheaper to buy but they were also much cheaper to run, offering vastly improved fuel economy and massively superior reliability.

Those early Japanese vehicles totally changed the shape of the automotive industry around the world, making Japan the undisputed "king of the car".

And guess what?

The annoucement of a new Chinese EV may just have done exactly the same thing, making it the 21st century equivalent of the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla.

I'm talking about the new Volvo EX30 EV that was launched this week and has become the subject of countless YouTube videos. Example below:

Now this isn't the first low-cost EV from a Chinese company. MG and BYD have both come out punching strong in the EV market with offerings that represent some of the lowest-cost options available. So why is the Volvo different?

Well for a start there's the name.

Volvo is synonymous with quality, reliability and safety.

"Hang on" I hear you shout, "I thought you said this was about Chinese EVs?"

Indeed it is because, just like the MG marque, Volvo is now a Chinese-owned brand, something that not everyone is aware of -- and that will work powerfully to its favour in the marketplace.

Volvo (unlike MG) is a "trusted" name and many of the blue-rinse set may well think they're buying a prestigeous European marque if they invest in an EX30. Okay, since Volvo is still HQ'd in Sweden you could argue that it remains a European marque -- but it is owned by the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group headquartered in Shanghai China.

However, the real reason that this new EV could be a game changer is the value for money it represents.

With a 0-100Km time of 3.4 seconds it offers levels of performance that were strictly hyper-car level just a few short years ago. Crazy!

More important however, is the fact that, for what you get, it's dirt cheap.

With UK prices hovering in the low 30,000 quid region, it's actually a whole lot cheaper than many ICE vehicles that would be in the same class. That means it becomes a very real option for many folks who couldn't even consider something like a Tesla Model Y.

From a "saving the planet" perspective it's also a double-win.

Not only can it be powered entirely by renewable energy (in countries like NZ where most of the electricity comes from hydro, wind or solar) but it's also built using more recycled materials than almost any other vehicle on the road.

I bet there will be a lot of people waking up to the fact that the planet is really warming quite rapidly right now and for who the "total carbon footprint" of a vehicle becomes a factor in the decision-making process. The EX30 scores very, very highly with a claimed 30 tonne carbon footprint for its manufacture and first 200,000Km of operation.

It will be very interesting to see how successful the EX30 is in the marketplace but I think this could be a real winner because it ticks so many boxes. It could also become one of the iconic vehicles that will be ultimately responsible for making China the new "king of cars" on the global market (albeit by association), dethroning Japan from that sought-after position after half a century.

What do readers think?

Is the EX30 a sufficiently "breakthrough" vehicle to have the same effect as the Civics and Corollas of the early 1970s?

Is it a vehicle you'd consider purchasing when you replace your current car/SUV?

Carpe Diem folks!

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