British media: Soaring oil prices ring alarm bells for Western car companies, while China has already taken action.

The Middle East conflict has caused global oil prices to soar, also causing the Western automotive industry to once again feel a crisis. An article in the UK's Guardian on March 21 pointed out that the Iran war should sound the alarm for Western car manufacturers, reminding them that if they do not fully promote electric vehicles, they will pay a high price. China has already taken action in this respect. The article states that American car brands such as Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, relied on selling fuel-guzzling cars to become wealthy, but in the 1980s, with two oil crises driving up oil prices, cheap fuel-efficient Japanese cars caught these Detroit giants off guard, and the collapse in sales led to hundreds of thousands of job losses in the heartland of the American car industry. Today, Western car manufacturers are making a similar "profound strategic mistake": as oil prices soar again, they are withdrawing from the electric vehicle market and refocusing on fuel vehicles. Experts say the future of the entire industry, including millions of jobs, is at risk. For the West, this challenge comes from Chinese brands. Cheap and high-quality Chinese electric vehicles such as BYD and NIO are gaining ground in Europe. By 2025, BYD will surpass Tesla to become the world's largest electric vehicle retailer; Chinese brands are rapidly taking over market share once dominated by companies like Volkswagen, Ford, Peugeot, and Renault.