China’s EVs Surge Into Georgia, Challenging U.S. Car Dominance
- Chinese EV imports to Georgia jumped nearly 88% year-on-year, making China the country’s second-largest EV supplier after the U.S.
- BYD’s growing presence reflects both affordability and rising demand, though infrastructure like charging stations remains limited.
- The EV surge aligns with Georgia’s ruling party’s pro-China stance, as political ties with the U.S. and EU
In Tbilisi, whether you are inching through traffic or weaving down side streets, you cannot escape the same slogan splashed across the backs of some passing cars: “Build Your Dreams.”
That is a branded motto etched onto vehicles made by BYD, China’s largest automaker. Each vehicle is a moving data point in a quiet shift, signaling the rise of Chinese electric vehicles on the streets of the Georgian capital, home to nearly half of the country’s population, as well as in other cities.
According to official data for January-July 2025, China accounted for just over 10 percent of Georgian imports, ranking fourth behind Turkey, the United States and Russia.
Passenger cars are the country’s largest import product, accounting for 20 percent of all imports, reflecting the sector’s significance, both for domestic demand and Georgia’s role as a regional re-export hub. China’s increasing presence underscores its strategic interest in gaining a larger share of the country’s auto market.
While Georgia’s annual number of imported cars has remained relatively steady in recent years, the share of electric vehicles is surging. During the first half of this year, the country imported 3,616 EVs, an 88 percent jump from 1,922 during the same period last year. Until recently, China did not even rank among Georgia’s top five car-supplying countries.
China is now the second-largest EV supplier after the US, and overall imports of Chinese cars, both electric and conventional, have risen roughly 79 percent this year.
Electric vehicles still make up a relatively small share of the overall auto market in Georgia, where nearly every second person owns a car. A major reason is that most Georgian consumers have long relied on cheap, second-hand cars from the US that are easy to repair locally. EVs do not fit this model, which helps explain why the US remains the country’s main car supplier.
While China cannot compete with the US in conventional car imports, it has already captured nearly 12 percent of Georgia’s EV market in just a couple of months. Demand is rising sharply; the appeal of EVs is strong. They are cheaper to run than gasoline-powered cars. But widespread adoption requires infrastructure, especially charging stations, that Georgia currently lacks. Market signals suggest that is about to change. Add to that the fact that Chinese EVs are more affordable than their Western-made counterparts, and it is clear they are poised to capture an increasing share of the Georgian market.
Growing Chinese economic influence goes hand in hand with politics. The ruling Georgian Dream party’s pro-China stance is well known, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze praising Communist China as the “best example of state modernization” and arguing that Beijing sets a positive example for other global powers.
In a twist of political irony, BYD Center in Tbilisi has just recently taken over the former headquarters of the United National Movement, the one-time governing party, now a major opposition force. Built in 2010 for party operations, the building had slipped out of the opposition’s hands amid financial and political pressures from the government.
Transparency International Georgia noted the geopolitical shift in its latest report: “As Georgia’s relations with the United States and the European Union deteriorate, Georgian Dream is strengthening its alliances with authoritarian regimes hostile to the United States, such as China.”
No comments:
Post a Comment