The Brazilian President and the foreign car boss pull their hands together and radiate. The two men celebrate the start of production in the new car factory. Lula da Silva is happy about the investment and the jobs, the car boss hopes for good business. Fruer was reliable in such pictures about the bosses of German car companies. But the hand that Lula raised a few days ago was that of Mu Feng, head of the Great Wall Motors Group, one of the dozens of car companies in China. GWM will in future produce two SUVs and a pick-up in the factory that the group bought the Daimler Group four years ago. Images like this are now common. In Europe, especially in the Autoland Germany, it may seem as if the Chinese auto industry are difficult to expand. In fact, this is in full swing. Only it does not take place so much in the west, but in all the regions and countries that were often combined in the balance sheets of the German manufacturers as “rest of the world”. According to Mexicodas, the list of the most important export markets of the Chinese shows that the largest number of cars, almost 300,000 vehicles, went to Mexico in the first half. The United Arab Emirates, Russia and Brazil follow the further ranks. In the top ten, which the Shanghaier consulting house Automobility has put together, there are only two European countries with Belgium and the United Kingdom. In Chile, Peru, Egypt or Kazakhstan, Chinese manufacturers came to a market share of around 30 percent or more last year, as can be seen from data from auto analysts Jato Dynamics. European manufacturers play a small role in all of these countries. But also in Israel, the market share of Chinese manufacturers recently scored more than one fifth. In Singapore, BYD Toyota has replaced the best -selling brand. But taken together, they take care of each other and at least stand for a quarter of the world market, with significantly growing tendency. China already overtook competitor Japan last year and became the largest auto exporter in the world. In the first seven months of this year, China delivered 3.7 million cars all over the world, an increase of around 13 percent, Automobility calculated. That alone is more than Germany exported over the past year. In addition to China, Europe The most important electric car market specialist assumes that this trend will continue. By the end of the decade, the Chinese market share in South America will skyrocket from eight to 15 percent, the consulting company Alix Partners expects. In the Middle East and Africa, they should recently grow from ten to 18 percent, in Southeast Asia from three to 17 percent. In many of these countries, companies benefit from geopolitics. With the new silk road, the global infrastructure initiative of XI Jinping, China has bound many countries itself and built the necessary ports, streets and rails that the Chinese auto industry can now use. To what extent the local government is open to Chinese companies and investments is one of the factors that markets are selected, said Brian GU, co-president of the Chinese car manufacturer Xpeng, a few months ago in front of journalists in Hong Kong. “It’s a geopolitical game,” says Felipe Munoz by Jato Dynamics. “The Chinese change the market dynamics, and the established car manufacturers do not have the right vehicles on offer.” It is not the case that the Chinese manufacturers are not interested in Europe. “Europe is the most important electric car market for us outside of China,” said Gu. But they also know that Europe is difficult to crack, not only because of the geopolitics, but also because of the rules and long car traditions, depending on the country. If you speak of your core markets, you list Europe, but Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East play an equally important role. “Europe is like a top university,” said Zhu Huarong, CEO of the state car manufacturer Changan, a few weeks ago in front of journalists in Chongqing. Of course, try to get to the best university. “But when we fail, we just go to the second best.” Who the urge to expand of the Chinese is particularly affected by Japanese corporations such as Toyota, which are very present in emerging countries, but also companies such as the European -American multi -brand group Stellantis or the Volkswagen Group. “There was a time when Western manufacturers also assumed that the global south would be a growth driver for them,” says Fabian Piontek from Alix Partners. “But these hopes broke up in many markets.” For Mercedes and BMW, the urge to expand of the Chinese is initially a lower problem. But the Chinese corporations almost always have premium brands in their range. And manufacturers such as Xpeng or Li Auto are already competing for the same customers in the People’s Republic. The Hongqi brand, known in China as a manufacturer of the State Card for President XI, announced its global expansion some time ago – with the claim to become the “Oriental Luxury” to the “new luxury of the world”. In fact, Germany exports more electrified cars as China. Only around 35.5 percent of the vehicles sent from the Middle Kingdom were electrified, albeit with increasing tendency. China summarizes electric cars and hybrid vehicles under the concept of New Energy Vehicle (NEV). According to the Federal Statistical Office, this value was recently around 48 percent. Russia’s import restrictions have to do with the fact that the electric cars are very popular in China and that more than half of the new vehicles are now electrified. The combustion cars that the Chinese want less and fewer are exported instead. The exports are a valve to load the many old combustion factories. The foreign business helps the Chinese to escape the highly competitive domestic market. The price war from China spills into the rest of the world. But it also increases independence. The fact that Russia has severely restricted the import of Chinese cars, for example, has led to a minus of deliveries of one third. In contrast, it leaves hardly any traces in the export balance, because instead the exports to Latin America and the Arab world rise sharply. Even Mexico only comes to a share of eight percent in the Chinese car exports. More on the Themadie Chinese corporations, however, do not leave it at exports, but are increasingly building factories. Specialist media in the People’s Republic write a total of 88 Chinese car factories abroad that have already been built or have started the construction. Dozens of others have been announced. All in Thailand wants to produce half a dozen Chinese brands on site, including the market leader BYD, Chery, Jac and Great Wall. They strive for the same phrases that German car managers fall back on in China. They like to speak of “in China, for China”. Changan has long turned the spit: Zhu talks about “in Europe, for Europe”.
Go to source