If I understand the explanation, its like when an author (or their proxies) buys thousands (millions) of copies of their own book to make them "sold" so that they can raise their standing on the "Best Seller's List".

For decades Ford Europe has had an employee scheme whereby they can get brand new hugely discounted cars every few months. This extended to their families and friends. Each employee could request several vouchers from Ford which are then used at a Ford dealership in exchange for a car on incredibly good finance payments. This was designed to boost the number of registered cars straight from the assembly line.

Sound like a standard case of misaligned incentives in a planned economy. As far as those go this is quite benign.

Central government sets targets for selling cars domestically, so of course every car is going to be sold domestically. Even those sold internationally.

In my western country, car dealers do the same in order to meet their sales target

So like whats the problem? New car for used car prices? I dont understand

“Inflated car sales” aka ‘sold more product’

“Dispose of cars” aka ‘sold internationally’

“Price war” aka ‘free market’

The Chinese EV industry is overdue for consolidation. There are too many players chasing too few customers. This could be done in a relatively orderly fashion that leaves a few big players that are internationally competitive. Or they can keep kicking the can down the road and hope for the best, until the inevitable collapse. Gee, I wonder which option they'll choose.