Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are shifting towards the premium market to increase profit margins and escape intense price competition. New high-end models are also challenging established brands like Tesla.

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers are speeding up their pivot to the premium segment, where they hope to secure higher profit margins and dodge the cutthroat market’s most vicious price competition. New models launched by carmakers including Nio and Seres also mount a challenge to Tesla’s bestselling Model Y in the world’s largest EV market. “Intensified efforts to gain ascendancy in the premium segment show the carmakers’ confidence in their technologies,” said Chen Jinzhu, CEO of...