Competition is a bitch. Global competition in 2023, particularly. There has always been plenty of it in the car business, but now that Chinese-built EVs especially are beginning to put the squeeze on European car makers as they try to fully establish themselves in the brave new zero-emissions market, we can start to appreciate just how much of a bitch it is likely to be for some time to come.

I remember well the theory espoused about making profit from electric cars 15 years ago. It would be impossible to start with: too much R&D investment up front, too much cost in the cars, and not enough sales volume. But as the volume grew and the battery tech developed, so the margin, it was promised, should materialise.