China EV brands taking the battle off the roads and into luxury malls
Jerrica · Jun 25, 2021 04:21 PM
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Zeekr
It seems Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers are expanding into the mall space as more and more brands are paying top-dollar for display space in luxury malls.
South China Morning Post recently uploaded a video showing how 6 EV makers have shoehorned showrooms onto the mall’s grounds. The brands include Xpeng, Nio, BYD, Zeekr, Li, and Geometry.
Nio
It looks very much like they have transformed the luxury shopping mall located in eastern Beijing into an auto city, very much like Glenmarie.
Although China is the world’s largest EV market, surprisingly many are still sceptical about converting to EVs. Displaying the EVs in a luxury shopping mall would not only reach a larger variety of audience but also help educate them more about the technology.
The same is happening in Shanghai as well. According to a Bloomberg report, more than half the malls in Shanghai houses at least one EV showroom. Meanwhile, more are being planned.
According to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), a real-estate service provider, rents for a 2,150 to 3,230 square feet showroom in prime areas of China’s biggest cities run to around $1 million a year.
Another Nio showroom but in a small in Shanghai
Though they are nowhere close to affordable, it is still a better alternative to building their own speciality showrooms. Displaying their brands in malls also allow smaller brands like Xpeng and Nio to reach more consumers as well.
But other than that, JLL told Bloomberg that EV showrooms are also a boon to mall owners who are looking for a new breed of tenants as conventional shopping such as clothes, shoes, and electronics have moved onto the online spectrum.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
