Chinese manufacturers: hundred of different companies competing in the free market with a relaxed attitude to intellectual property, producing extremely cheap customer friendly vehicles. This system is called "communism".
Western manufacturers: increasing lock-in to preserve revenues of middlemen
I shouldn't do jokes on HN, but if you look at the Chinese car market, it looks exactly like free market competition. Consolidation will come eventually, as it did to Europe with Stellantis.
Western manufacturers: increasing lock-in to preserve revenues of middlemen