THINKING ALOUD
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Investing in China’s EV darlings is a lopsided bet 

Your reward for stumbling onto the next big thing could be to own something too much like the last big thing

    • Li Auto's Li Mega electric minivan. Of the "new trio" of China's car industry, the company hints most strongly at what happens when it all goes right.
    • Li Auto's Li Mega electric minivan. Of the "new trio" of China's car industry, the company hints most strongly at what happens when it all goes right. PHOTO: REUTERS
    Published Tue, May 6, 2025 · 05:00 AM

    I SHOULD start with a disclaimer that nothing in this column should be taken as investment advice, unless you want to emulate my knack for making a small fortune by starting out with a large one.

    But let’s talk about car stocks. The ones I own make my portfolio look less like a glittering showroom than a junkyard. Yet, a Chinese academic recently singled out three hot names and declared their stocks are headed for the graveyard.

    According to Professor Zhu Xican from the School of Automotive Engineering at Tongji University, the odds that Li Auto, Nio and XPeng will survive as independent car companies are somewhere between none and zero.

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