Therefore, e-cars “Made in China” become an export hit

They are called Aiways, BYD, Chery, MG, Nio, Polestar or Xpeng and are about to conquer Europe: according to the Chinese automobile association CAAM, Chinese car exports alone have tripled since 2020 to about 2.5 million vehicles per year. year. China has now risen to third place in the world exporter ranking. A little further on, only Germany and Japan are at the top.

In comparison, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) reported that 2.61 million passenger cars were exported from Germany last year. Japan exported about three million passenger cars, but while car exports from the old industrialized countries are progressing slowly or not at all, the demand for cars from China is growing rapidly.

Successes in the Middle East, Latin America and now also in Europe

Catching up will be a major theme at the Shanghai Auto Show, which opens on Tuesday. Chinese manufacturers are already market leaders in parts of the Middle East and Latin America. But even in Europe, more “Made in China” products are rolling onto the streets. The Chinese actually wanted to be here more than ten years ago.

But in the era of the internal combustion engine, they could not close the gap to Western competition. They embarrassed themselves in safety tests and with vehicles of questionable quality. The cards were shuffled again with the electric car. Here, Chinese manufacturers are suddenly considered technology leaders, especially in battery development.

According to car experts, China is not only leading the way in the construction of electric cars and batteries thanks to an earlier start, but also in the field of connectivity and autonomous driving, some Chinese manufacturers are better positioned than, for example, their German competitors.

With e-cars on the rise

The Chinese concern Geely cleverly took over the Swedish brand Volvo years ago and focused entirely on an electric future. But Chinese e-car brands such as BYD or Nio are at least slowly gaining ground abroad: The Chinese are currently launching a globalization strategy with their e-cars, which has implications not least for Europe and Germany, says industry expert Stefan Reindl , head of the Geislinger Institute for the automotive industry.

However, the Chinese manufacturers needed established dealers as sales partners to use existing dealer networks and locations. These are especially important for vehicle service, as e-cars also require maintenance and repairs.

“Many Chinese manufacturers think they can only shape sales in Germany and Europe with digital structures,” says Reindl. But in this country, customer acceptance for such sales concepts is still low. This also applies to the Swiss market, where the Chinese manufacturers, with a few exceptions such as Polestar, have hardly worked so far.

“The car of the future will largely come from China,” says industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. It is a smart strategy to first become strong in your home market and then expand step by step. The Chinese found their way forward. In Eastern Europe they are already relatively strong, and in England they also have a certain strength. “They are only now coming to Germany,” says Dudenhöffer. Smaller markets such as Switzerland will follow later.

German car manufacturers are losing ground in China

The auto show starts in Shanghai on Tuesday. Then the German manufacturers have to show how they want to handle their sales crisis in China. The situation is particularly dramatic for electric cars.

Electric cars immediately catch the eye in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen. Unlike vehicles with a combustion engine, they do not have a blue license plate, but a green license plate. The main problem of German manufacturers in China quickly becomes clear: while many German brands are represented in the “blue” cars, Chinese manufacturers dominate in the cars with green license plates.

Electric cars are no exception on the streets of Shenzhen, they are ubiquitous. In some parts of the city, there are already more cars with green plates than blue plates buzzing through the streets.

China is the largest passenger car market in the world and the most important for German manufacturers. But the situation is tense. According to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Germans sold 4.4 million cars in China last year, which corresponds to a market share of 19.1 percent. In the fast-growing electric drive business, however, the market share was only five percent.

Chinese electric car manufacturers dominate

There is not a single German model among the ten best-selling electric cars in China. Only Tesla is the only foreign manufacturer to make the ranking, which is further dominated by Shenzhen-based Chinese automaker BYD.

“German automakers are now facing huge headwinds in China from local brands,” says automotive expert Stefan Reindl, head of the Geislingen Institute for the Automotive Industry. In terms of price, the Chinese vehicles are especially interesting in the lower vehicle classes.

But the Chinese were also getting closer to the premium brands – at more affordable prices. Reindl suspects “German manufacturers will continue to lose market share in China”.

At the auto show in Shanghai, which starts on Tuesday, the German manufacturers must provide answers about how they want to overcome the crisis.

China important market for German car manufacturers

According to industry expert Dudenhöffer, the German automakers could not exist without the shares in China. This is not only due to the number of vehicles sold, but also due to their value. In China, mainly premium vehicles are sold and not compact vehicles. “The money paid to workers and employees and shareholders in Germany is earned in China,” says Dudenhöffer.

China is also important because it will be a technology leader in some areas in the future, and is already doing so, says Dudenhöffer. “Without the Chinese, we wouldn’t be able to enter the transformation.” Without the knowledge from China, the Germans would not be able to build competitive cars in the future.

The Chinese really appreciate the German brands for their high quality and because they look balanced, says Dudenhöffer. When it comes to driving characteristics, processing and design, German vehicles lead the way. But when it comes to future topics such as electromobility or software, the Chinese set the standard.

(oli/sda/awp/dpa)

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