China moved directly to hybrid drivetrains, which is where the future of the internal combustion engine lies. They did this while pushing EV technology, and it gave them a fundamental advantage because low voltage hybrids are not the future of cars.
It's also too early to say whether or not they managed to catch up in ICE technology, because it takes time to put 500k kms on millions of drivetrains, and they haven't been selling cars globally at scale for long enough to pass that litmus test. We're also talking about a moving target; if they went straight to hybrids without perfecting traditional engines, does it really matter? I'm not sure that it does when the fundamental technology is largely the same, and they're putting out hybrid drivetrains in pickups that that eclipse the competition in terms of performance. Maybe the longevity isn't there right now, but it seems naive to claim that they never caught up, when they're right there in the thick of it in the current global market, in all drivetrain technologies that matter.
It's also too early to say whether or not they managed to catch up in ICE technology, because it takes time to put 500k kms on millions of drivetrains, and they haven't been selling cars globally at scale for long enough to pass that litmus test. We're also talking about a moving target; if they went straight to hybrids without perfecting traditional engines, does it really matter? I'm not sure that it does when the fundamental technology is largely the same, and they're putting out hybrid drivetrains in pickups that that eclipse the competition in terms of performance. Maybe the longevity isn't there right now, but it seems naive to claim that they never caught up, when they're right there in the thick of it in the current global market, in all drivetrain technologies that matter.