Younger, professionally diverse Chinese are turning to local brands for technology and qualities once tied to foreign marques
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenHe Huifengin GuangdongPublished: 3:00pm, 14 Aug 2026For Eric Huang, a Guangdong-based healthcare entrepreneur who owns a Lamborghini Aventador and a Tesla Model S Plaid, the appeal of Chinese premium electric vehicles (EVs) has grown as their technology has caught up with his expectations.“I hold electric cars to strict safety standards, so I used to stick to Tesla,” Huang said. But he added that domestic brands had now met his standards.His next purchase, he said, would be a six-seat premium electric minivan equivalent from a Chinese brand, with a budget of about 1 million yuan (US$148,000).
Huang’s choice shows that even while China’s ultra-luxury car market has slowed overall, a growing segment of drivers, with a penchant for domestic brands, are still opening their wallets for top-end EVs.
A report by Beijing-based consultancy Guanyan Tianxia on China’s luxury car market and investment from 2025 to 2032 said Chinese luxury-car buyers were becoming younger and more professionally diverse, with technology and driving experience increasingly outweighing the prestige of traditional luxury names.
