Chinese electric vehicle (EV) company Xpeng has said that the global car industry will decrease to just 10 firms by the end of the decade.

This is due to a shift in the industry towards the electric revolution – seeing the world move to only allowing new EVs, consigning petrol and diesel vehicles to history.

Xpeng’s Vice Chair Brian Gu predicts that for Chinese carmakers to survive this change and compete, they will need yearly sales of three million vehicles.

For comparison, last year Tesla sold 1.3 million cars – with Toyota, the largest car manufacturer selling 10.5 million.

China is currently the second largest exporter of cars in the world behind Japan; overtaking Germany in 2022.

Xpeng sold more than 120,000 cars last year but this rate has almost halved after one of its main competitors Tesla cut its prices.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Gu said: “To be in that three million club you cannot be a China-only player, you have to be a global player. We think in that scenario, maybe close to half your volume is coming from outside of China.

“In five to 10 years, it’s going to be a much more concentrated market. I think the [number] of players will probably be reduced to less than 10 at the global stage.”