Charging Higher & Higher
An interesting article by Bloomberg’s David Fickling caught our eye recently.
As a consequence of the Middle East troubles, India is facing shortages of the LPG used as domestic cooking. This has sparked fistfights at gas-bottle retailers and, if the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is not resolved shortly, similar scenes may spread to gas stations.
We have been bombarded with comparisons of today’s events and the numerous previous oil crises. Fickling notes how quickly Americans switched to smaller, more fuel efficient Japanese vehicles in the 1970s. 50 years ago Detroit’s big three produced almost half the world’s cars. Today they account for less than a tenth.
The switch to pure EVs (i.e. excluding hybrids) has been rapid. In FY2025 the market share of EVs in China climbed to 27%. Latest monthly EV sales data shows that in Singapore (56%), Thailand (46%) and Indonesia (35%) EVs are increasingly dominating. This was before the arrival of the latest oil crisis.
In Europe and the UK, EVs have a market share of roughly 20%. The numbers for the US and Japan are just 6% and 3%. Having dominated most Asian auto markets over the past five decades it appears all but inevitable that Toyota, Honda and other Japanese auto manufacturing are staring at their own ‘Detroit’ moment.
In particular, Asian Governments are giving 2 wheeler EVs a helping hand. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are planning to ban gasoline-powered scooters and motorbikes from their downtown areas this year while Delhi is proposing similar measures starting in 2027. It appears inevitable that other Indian cities will follow suit as will mega cities in the region such as Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila.
About one fifth of our Asian portfolio is directly, or more obliquely, invested in the rising role of electricity in the Asia.
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