Explore: The cars of Shanghai
Roewe ei5 taxis
After exploring the Shanghai Auto Show, it’s now time to study the car landscape of the city. The first thing that surprises when walking around the center of town is the silence. A lot of the cars are electric and it shows (or rather, it sounds).
Buick Velite 6
Chevrolet Menlo
As expected, vehicles produced locally dominate. Notably, the fleet of Shanghai taxi is almost exclusively composed of the Roewe ei5 station wagon. The Buick Velite 6 is also very popular, as are the Buick GL8 and Maxus MPVs such as the Mifa 9.
Roewe D7
The Roewe D7 is so frequent that it could be the outright best-selling vehicle in Shanghai. R-branded models are also seen often, such as the F7 (interior pictured above).
NIO ET5
NIO ES6
NIO ET5T
NIO has established itself nicely in Shanghai, with many ES6, ES7 and ES8. The GAC Aion Y is also very well represented.
We also have the obligatory fleet of Tesla Model and Y, as well as a few X.
Interestingly, there were quite a few Maple MPV.
The Xiaomi SU7 is already present in the Shanghai car landscape.
There was not a single BYD Seagull or Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, indicating that these vehicles may only be successful is smaller cities and rural areas. Actually BYD wasn’t such a dominant force here compared to Beijing, albeit the BYD yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) is seen quite regularly. Also interestingly, the dominant body style is sedans, not SUVs, a striking feat. Porsche has many cars roaming around Shanghai.
Other notable appearances include…
The AITO M9…
eπ 008…
Ora Good Cat
Tank 300
Xpeng G6 and Li One
Yangwang U8
and Zeekr 001
Luxury in a standard taxi
This Post Has 3 Comments
This is amazing! Thanks Matt
Thanks for the nice article. It’s valuable to see reality.
NIO is probably the closest to European taste. But sales are very bad. BYD and Xpeng are more succesful. Tariffs are big problem.
Shanghai is home to SAIC Motor and the Tesla Shanghai factory, which was established in 2019. As a result, the local policies regarding the issuance of new energy vehicle (NEV) licenses have been adjusted. For example, small cars like the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV and the BYD Seagull are not eligible for NEV licenses. This is seen as a form of local protectionism. In Shenzhen, BYD vehicles are everywhere, while in Hangzhou, there are many Geely-branded vehicles. Another factor is that Shanghai has a large population, and there is a need to restrict private car ownership to manage traffic congestion. The way this is done is through the auctioning of car licenses, which can be very expensive. In summary, it is a balance between the need for local industrial protection and the need to address population and traffic congestion issues.