30/12/2025

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | DEC 30, 2025

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LandSpace gears up to take on Musk and SpaceX

Hong Kong home prices rise as market sentiment perks up HONG KONG: Private home prices in Hong Kong grew 0.9% month-on-month in November, the sixth month of increase in a row, government data showed yesterday, as interest rate cuts and a vibrant stock market supported sentiment. Home prices climbed 0.9% in November from October, following a revised 0.4% rise in the previous month, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed. Prices have risen 2.8% this year, turning around from an annual decline since 2021. Home prices in Hong Kong, one of the world’s least affordable cities, have tumbled nearly 30% from a 2021 peak, hurt by higher mortgage rates, a weak economic outlook and poor demand after many professionals left due to strict Covid curbs and new national security laws. Authorities tried to prop up the sector – a core pillar of the economy – last year, removing curbs on property purchases and relaxing ratios on down payments, but housing demand has remained soft. Property developers have been selling new flats at discounted prices to boost sales, suppressing the second-hand market, which is reflected in the official price. Major Hong Kong banks lowered interest rates in October, the fifth cut since September 2024, following a reduction by the US Federal Reserve. Hong Kong’s monetary policy moves in lockstep with the US as the city’s currency is pegged to the greenback. Analysts believe the Hong Kong home market is bottoming out with support from stable buying volume. They said prices next year would depend on the pace of rate cuts and the severity of Sino-US trade tensions. JPMorgan said in a report it expected Hong Kong home prices to rebound by another 5% by the end of 2026, while the key downside risk is a sharp stock market fall. – Reuters Thai factory output unexpectedly falls BANGKOK: Thailand’s manufacturing production index unexpectedly dropped 4.24% in November from a year earlier due to lower petroleum output, the strong baht and a border conflict with Cambodia, the Industry Ministry said yesterday. The November figure compared with a year-on-year rise of 0.8% forecast in a Reuters poll, and followed a revised increase of 0.04% in October. The index dropped 1.09% compared to a year earlier in the first 11 months of 2025. The strong baht pushed up export prices and eroded Thailand’s competitiveness, the ministry said in a statement. The currency has gained about 10% against the dollar so far this year, making it Asia’s second-best performing currency. Southern flooding and weaker tourist numbers also affected output, though higher exports and auto production, as well as government stimulus measures, did lend some support, the ministry said. Car production in Thailand, a regional automaking centre, rose 11% in November from a year earlier, and should reach its target of 1.45 million units for the whole year, according to the Federation of Thai Industries. The ministry has kept its outlook for factory output unchanged, saying it would drop 0.75% this year and rise by 1% to 2% in 2026, according to Supakit Boonsiri, head of the ministry’s industrial economics office, speaking at a news briefing. – Reuters

The two groups are expected soon to publish their final figures for 2025, and based on sales data so far this year, there is almost no chance the American company led by Elon Musk will retain its leadership position. At the end of November, Shenzhen-based BYD, which also produces hybrid vehicles, had sold 2.07 million EVs so far in 2025. Tesla, for its part, had sold 1.22 million by the end of September. Tesla’s September figures included a one-time boost in sales, to nearly half-a-million vehicles in a three-month period, before the expiration of a US tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles – which ended under legislation backed by President Donald Trump, a climate change sceptic. But Tesla’s sales in the coming quarter are expected to fall to 449,000, according to a FactSet analysis consensus. That would give Tesla about 1.65 million sales for all of 2025, a drop of 7.7% and well below the level BYD had attained by end November. Deutsche Bank, which projects just 405,000 HUZHOU: China’s rocket startup LandSpace has made no secret about drawing inspiration from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Earlier this month, the Beijing-based firm became the first Chinese entity to conduct a reusable rocket test. That put SpaceX on alert and LandSpace is now preparing to go public to fund its future projects, just as its bigger US rival considers an initial public offering of its own. Even though LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 rocket test ended in failure, its aspiration to become second only to SpaceX in reusable rockets is providing a fresh impetus to China’s space industry, which has long been dominated by risk-averse, state-owned entities. “(SpaceX) can push products to the edge and even into failure, quickly identifying limits and iterating,” Zhuque-3 chief designer Dai Zheng told state broadcaster CCTV. Dai said his decision in 2016 to join LandSpace and leave the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country’s main state-owned rocket developer, was partly motivated by SpaceX’s focus on reusability and his desire to create a Chinese equivalent. LandSpace’s focus on giving China its own low-cost launch option similar to SpaceX’s flight-proven reusable rocket Falcon 9 will play a key role in Beijing’s plans to build up 10,000 satellite constellations in the coming decades. “Falcon 9 is a successful configuration that has been tested by engineering,” Zhuque-3’s deputy chief designer Dong Kai said. “After studying it, we recognise its rationality; this is learning, not imitation.” “Calling (Zhuque-3) a ‘Chinese Falcon 9,’ I think, is a very high compliment.” Its startup culture and mimicking of SpaceX has already initiated a paradigm shift in China’s space industry. o Startup is first Chinese entity to conduct reusable rocket test

A range of models of space rocket carriers and engines manufactured by LandSpace are set up on display at its factory in Huzhou. – REUTERSPIC

overseas production capacity and supply chains for EVs”, said Jing Yang, director of Asia-Pacific corporate ratings at Fitch Ratings. “Going forward, its geographical diversification is likely to help it to navigate an increasingly complicated global tariff environment.” Overseas rivals to BYD have balked at Chinese state subsidies and other state supports that have allowed the company to sell vehicles cheaply. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese EV imports that could potentially go even higher under Trump. Europe has also imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, but BYD is building manufacturing capacity in Hungary. While the chance of Tesla reclaiming its global leadership in EVs looks uncertain, the firm is also potentially positioned for growth. Michaeli of TD Cowen sees autonomous technology playing an increasingly important role for Tesla, with breakthroughs in its “full self-driving” or “FSD” offerings potentially boosting sales. “As Tesla really begins to roll out eyes-off features and expand FSDs capability, if they do that successfully, that should generate more demand for their vehicles.” – AFP Chinese-made rocket had adopted aspects of the Starship spacecraft and applied them on a design similar to the Falcon 9. “They have added aspects of Starship, such as use of stainless steel and methalox, to a Falcon 9 architecture, which would enable it to beat Falcon 9,” Musk said in October, in his first public comments about LandSpace. “But Starship in another league.” Features like stainless steel sheaths and rocket engines powered by methalox, a combination of methane and liquid oxygen, are just some of the ways that companies like SpaceX and LandSpace are looking to reduce the enormous cost of launches. But by far the most important cost-saver is the ability to launch a rocket, then return, recover and reuse its engine-packed first stage. As LandSpace prepares another rocket launch after the December failure, when Zhuque-3’s booster was not able to activate a landing burn 3km from the ground as planned, causing it to crash rather than execute a controlled landing, it may take comfort from SpaceX’s experience. SpaceX had its first successful Falcon booster landing in 2015 after two failed attempts. – Reuters

Industry watchers say it will take time for EV demand to reach a level of equilibrium in the US following the elimination of the US$7,500 tax credit at the end of September 2025. Even prior to that, Tesla had seen sales struggle in key markets over CEO Musk’s political support of Trump and other far-right politicians. Tesla has also faced rising EV competition from BYD and other Chinese companies and from European giants. “We believe Tesla will see some weakness on deliveries” in the fourth quarter, said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. Sales of 420,000 would be “good enough to show stable demand”, with Wall Street “laser focused on the autonomous chapter kicking off in 2026”, Ives added, referring to plans for self-driving vehicles. Even as it has grown quickly, BYD has faced challenges in its home market. With profitability in China weighed down by price-wary consumers, the company has sought to strengthen its foothold in foreign markets. BYD is “one of the pioneers to establish China’s state-led space programme has historically been allergic to failed launches, in contrast to SpaceX and other Western firms that regularly broadcast their mishaps. But earlier this month, state media covered China’s first two failed attempts at recovering a reusable rocket, with the second launch coming from a state-owned firm, just three weeks after Zhuque-3’s maiden flight. After opening up the space sector to private money in 2014, which spawned several startups including LandSpace, Beijing is now looking to help leading domestic players tap into capital markets by making it easier for them to pursue IPOs. Dai said SpaceX’s generous financial backing was a key factor in allowing the US firm to incur huge losses while testing Starship, its reusable launch vehicle. “For us, we’re not yet able to do that.” “I believe our country has recognised this, allowing capital markets to support companies (in areas) like commercial space flight.” A month before LandSpace launched the Zhuque-3, SpaceX founder Musk had already taken note of the vehicle’s design. Commenting on a video on X that showed Zhuque-3’s assembly, he said the

BYD poised to overtake Tesla in 2025 EV sales NEW YORK: Growing Chinese auto giant BYD stands poised to officially surpass Tesla as the world’s biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales. Tesla EV sales during the fourth quarter, sees the company’s sales down by around one-third in both North America and Europe, and by one-tenth in China.