Few clear winners on the road to EVs – only losers

THIS month’s Singapore Motorshow will have driven home just how relentlessly an influx of futuristic Chinese EVs with tantalising prices, at least by our standards, is reshaping the motoring landscape.

The incumbent players and their dealers do not merely have to grapple with the fact that car pricing here is distorted in favour of EVs, for one reason or another, but also that those from China seem to come with more of everything: more space inside, more high-tech features, more performance and more refinement. What Singaporean motorist can resist the idea of getting more car for less money?

While the flood of Chinese EVs threatens to sweep away the old guard, some legacy brands are still on higher ground than others. These include premium nameplates such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, along with those above them: Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and their ilk. They will stay protected for as long as their brands transcend metal, glass and plastic. “I’m ashamed to say I drive a Benz,” said no one here, ever.