Cover Story: Chinese Automakers Rev Up Price War in Race for Market Dominance

A brutal price war is raging across China’s auto sector, catalyzing a profound overhaul of the world’s largest car market, as makers of new energy vehicles and conventional fossil fuel cars face off to win a greater share of a market rattled by slowing sales.

The first shot was fired by U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc., which late last year rolled out massive subsidies and price cuts to spur sales. A flurry of domestic and foreign EV-makers followed suit, with BYD Co. Ltd., XPeng Inc., Nio Inc. and Volkswagen AG all racing to win customers by offering generous discounts.