27 Dec The Atlantic : Bill Russo’s rebuttal to The Atlantic article titled “China’s EV Market is Imploding”

Media Source : The Atlantic

November 11

A Needed Rebuttal to Yet Another Sensational China EV Narrative

Last month, a reporter from The Atlantic contacted me with a very narrow question: a clarification on the “zero-mileage used car” practice.

I explained exactly how it works — a tactic used by a few financially stressed companies to artificially meet sales targets in a hyper-competitive environment.

What I was not asked:

• How widespread this practice is
• Whether it is systemic
• Whether it reflects the health of China’s EV industry

None of that made it into the story. Instead, an isolated behavior was extrapolated into the headline claim that “China’s EV Market Is Imploding.”

Let’s be clear:

• This is not evidence of an EV market collapse.
• It is not a widespread or structural issue.
• It is not an ‘implosion.’

It is an act of desperation by weaker players under pressure as the industry consolidates. In every large-scale transformation, not all companies survive.

The EV market isn’t what’s collapsing. The only thing imploding in China is the ICE market.

China’s EV industry continues to scale, innovate, export, and globalize at a pace unmatched anywhere in the world — and that success is precisely why competition is so fierce.

Turning a fringe behavior into a narrative of systemic failure is not analysis.

It’s just headline-driven storytelling.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2025/11/china-electric-cars-market/684887/