Audi: – 28 percent BMW: – 6 percent Mercedes: – 9 percent Porsche: – 24 percent VW: – 58 percent The figures show the decline in electric car sales by German manufacturers in the third quarter. Not in China. But in the USA, where the popular excuse of state-subsidized cheap competition from China doesn’t work. Because the competitors here are not BYD or Nio, but Tesla, Rivian or Hyundai. For example, market leader Tesla sold more units of its monstrous Cybertruck there in the third quarter than Audi, Mercedes and Porsche combined sold electric cars. However, the American and Chinese electric car markets have two things in common: While both lead markets are growing steadily, the shares of the German ones are falling Manufacturers are falling further and further back and are now less than 10 percent. A quick improvement is not in sight, as competitors are now benefiting from economies of scale that German manufacturers are still a long way from. The gap is currently getting bigger instead of smaller. The cause lies in the blatant failure of German automotive managers to neither recognize the multiple disruption of their market for electromobility and “software-defined vehicles” in a timely manner nor to have reacted successfully. Since the Chinese market in particular has transformed much faster than expected, German manufacturers are now neither technically nor price-competitive. Since economics and ecology on the global markets point towards digital and electric mobility, the current discussion in Germany is about a return to the Combustion engines are not just short-sighted, but dangerous: “If the whole world switches to electric cars in five years, then German companies will not be ready for it because they have not invested. This will kill these car manufacturers,” warned Stella Li, BYD’s European boss, in an interview with our Sunday newspaper. And rightly so, because it’s no longer enough to finally launch cheap electric cars (with the help of American or Chinese software) in a few years. The market is already moving towards autonomous vehicles, which are now part of the street scene in the USA and China, financed by tech companies such as Google, Nvidia, Amazon and Baidu. Unfortunately, this is the next future field from which German car managers have (too) quickly said goodbye due to a lack of short-term prospects of success and technical competence. Thanks to artificial intelligence, enormous progress is being made here. German car managers have already laughed (too) loudly about the future. This shouldn’t happen to you a second time. To talk about this and other topics, we would like to invite you to our AI Congress on November 6th and 7th, 2024 in the F.A.Z. Tower in Frankfurt. You can register at the following link: www.faz-conferences.de/kuenstliche-intelligenz FAZbmWe would be very happy to talk to you and the good speakers. Presence is required here. Come and join us in the discussion. Holger Schmidt wishes you a good read of our briefing
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