According to recent German reports, German automakers are becoming mediocre in the Chinese market. “China is by far the most important market for German automakers,” it was noted, “the industry, though, has recently struggled to keep up with China’s progress. Something needs to change right away.”
According to Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, a German auto economist, “German products have somewhat lost their advantage as competition in the Chinese market has expanded dramatically.” According to Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, German automakers are in the middle when it comes to electric vehicles. The majority of electric vehicles in China are produced by Chinese companies such as BYD, Nio, and Tesla. German manufacturers lag behind when it comes to software features desired by Chinese consumers.
Based on Dudenhoffer’s statistics, sales of Volkswagen Group, BMW MINI, and Mercedes-Benz have fluctuated in China compared to the period from January to September 2021, according to the article. Market share for Volkswagen decreased from 17.5% to 14.1%. German suppliers left a big gap, according to Dudenhoffer, even though the Chinese market expanded by a total of about 15% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period of last year.
According to related report, the primary shortcomings of German manufacturers in China are lack of the entertainment and autonomous driving aid features of in-car software. For instance, the report claimed that while some Volkswagen and Audi vehicles sold in China are doing better than before, they still lack some of the unique in-car entertainment and software capabilities that are usually provided by local automakers. However, these features are often standard for local automakers.
Mr. Dudenhoffer thinks German automakers are facing the risk of “losing ground” even more in the area of autonomous driver assistance technologies. “Although RoboTaxi is already in use in some Chinese cities, it is becoming less popular in many areas of Germany because it is currently difficult to understand how to profit from it. And that gives Chinese competors the best chance to gain an advantage and improve significantly.” stated Dudenhoffer.
For instance, Mercedes-Benz delivered more than 517,800 passenger cars globally in the third quarter of this year, increased 21% over the same period of last year. Of these, 206,800 units—increased 37% from the previous year—were sold in China. About 562,600 new Mercedes-Benz vehicles were delivered in China in the first nine months of this year. “Despite ongoing concerns, we were able to maintain a strong market performance in the third quarter with the help of our dealer partners. More consumers have recognized our products across a variety of market segments, particularly in the high-end luxury and new energy vehicle industries.” CEO of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales & Service Co., LTD. Yang Ming said.
BMW Group’s sales numbers for the first nine months of this year show that it delivered around 592,900 units of BMW and MINI vehicles to Chinese buyers, much like Mercedes did. CEO of BMW Group Greater China— Gaole stated, “We acquired an encouraging result in the third quarter by working with our dealers to overcome many obstacles, continuously reinforce our electrification force, and provide new products to our consumers. The BMW Group is moving more quickly toward electric, digital, and ecological development while adhering to its strategy of “home in China”.
German automakers are attempting to catch up with Autoweekly’s worries. For instance, BMW Brilliance opened the Rida factory, a significant boost to its production base, in June. The project is the greatest single investment the BMW Group has ever made in the Chinese market, totaling 15 billion yuan. Then, in November, BMW Group announced a major expansion in the production of power batteries at its Shenyang manufacturing base. BMW Brilliance invested in this project, which cost a total of around 10 billion yuan.