China’s top maker of electric vehicles (EV) wants to pay a lot less for car parts in the new year, a demand that signals there is no end in sight to a vicious price war nor economic gloom marked by lower wages and uncertain prospects.

BYD Co. has asked suppliers to accept price cuts next year in a signal the Chinese electric vehicle maker is preparing for the brutal price war in the world’s biggest auto market to intensify.

Chinese automaker BYD is asking its suppliers to cut their prices, in a sign that a brutal price war in the world's largest auto market is set to escalate.