A BYD Co. Seal electrical sedan through the media day for the Munich Motor Show (IAA) in Munich, Germany, on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023.
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Chinese electrical autos pose “a real threat” to the European automobile trade, based on Christian Kames, managing director at monetary advisory agency Lazard.
Kames spoke from the IAA Mobility Conference in Munich, the place the variety of Chinese firms has soared because the final occasion.
Around 40% of the presenters on the convention are from Asia, whereas the variety of Chinese exhibitors in attendance has greater than doubled from 29 in 2021 to 75 this yr, based on IAA Mobility. There are nearly 750 exhibitors in complete, from 38 nations.
The enhance in Chinese firms in attendance reveals that these corporations “really have the European market … as the next market they want to conquer,” Kames stated.
The feedback mirror these of Chinese automakers, who’ve confused that Europe is a key a part of their international growth plans.
Warren Buffet-backed carmaker BYD launched its Seal electrical sedan for Europe on Monday, whereas Leapmotor, which relies in Hangzhou, China, stated its SUV can be accessible in Europe subsequent yr.
Similarly, Xpeng introduced plans to promote its automobiles in Germany in 2024, after already getting into the Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Dutch markets.
“We recognize Germany is the most important and the highest standard market for all” carmakers, Brian Gu, the president of Xpeng, informed CNBC in an interview Monday.
Swiss financial institution UBS has gone so far as to downgrade two main European automakers due to the menace posed by China’s broadening EV market.
European firms are ‘prepared to have interaction’
European auto producers are properly conscious of the competitors caused by Chinese firms, Christian Kames informed CNBC.
“[European carmakers] get it now, that the Chinese [automakers] are a real threat. The question is what do they do about it,” Kames stated.
“I don’t think we are still at the stage where they underestimate the Chinese,” he added.
Renault CEO Luca De Meo on Monday stated that the French carmaker is constant to ramp up its funding in new applied sciences, notably in its new EV-dedicated unit, Ampere, which he believes places the corporate in good stead towards worldwide competitors.
“We think we have the argument and the confidence to [cut costs], it will take some time because Chinese OEMs, they started a generation before the Europeans because market conditions were different in China, so that’s the fight, and we are ready to engage,” De Meo informed CNBC.
China’s advances in Europe’s electrical automobile sphere also can train European nations how they will higher crack into the Asia market, Chris Reitermann, CEO of Ogilvy Asia Pacific and Greater China, informed CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng on Aug. 25.
“A lot of the multinational players, they struggle because they underestimated the huge, the speed of shift to electric, which is probably a good lesson in how multinationals need to run their businesses if they want to be successful in China,” Reitermann stated in a video interview.
“A lot of those big car companies, they’re on the sidelines watching their market share destroyed,” he stated.
“Now most of them realized that they probably will not be able to do it by themselves, they probably will not be able to succeed in China by themselves, that’s why you saw Volkswagen partner with Xpeng and I think you will see more of that where some of the local EV guys will partner with multinationals.”
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal, Evelyn Cheng and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.
Source: www.cnbc.com”
