‘Payback’: why China’s world-beating car industry faces plunging sales at home

China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry sits at the centre of numerous economic and geopolitical trends: consumer spending, environmental protection, trade policy, high-end manufacturing, technology and more.

In this short series, we assess the current state of the sector within these broader contexts.

Here, Emma Ma examines the forces driving higher exports and lower domestic sales.
Wang Wenfei, a 30-year-old chef from central China’s Henan province, had long dreamed of buying a new car.

So,...