Chinese electric cars sell better than “inferior” American ones due to their better performance and affordability, the Financial Times reported, citing the head of a global battery material producer.

Chinese vehicles are “simply good cars and people buy them,” the British newspaper quoted Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore, headquartered in Belgium.

American producers “seem to struggle to bring good electric vehicles” to the market, he said in the interview.

The sales of electric cars in China are surging, while the market in the United States is small, said the report.

Miedreich said that US carmakers were also pulling back on factory expansion plans for electric vehicles because of weak demand.

The new energy vehicle market has witnessed robust expansion in China over the past years thanks to the country’s accelerated push for green development and a rapidly growing auto market.

In 2023, electric passenger cars accounted for 69 per cent of the country’s sales, while plug-in hybrids gripped 31 per cent.