A BYD Co. Seal electric sedan is seen during the media day at the Munich Motor Show (IAA) in Munich, Germany, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023.
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Christian Kames, managing director of financial consultancy Lazard, said Chinese electric vehicles posed a “real threat” to the European car industry.
Kames was speaking at the IAA mobile conference in Munich, where the number of Chinese companies has skyrocketed since the last event.
About 40% of the speakers at the conference were from Asia, while the number of Chinese exhibitors in attendance more than doubled, from 29 in 2021 to 75 this year, according to IAA Mobility. There were nearly 750 exhibitors from 38 countries.
Camus said the increase in the number of Chinese companies present at the show showed that these companies “do have a European market … as the next market they want to conquer”.
The comments mirror those of Chinese automakers, who have highlighted Europe as a key part of their global expansion plans.
Buffett-backed automaker BYD launched its Seal electric sedan in Europe on Monday, while Hangzhou, China-based Leapmotor said its SUV would go on sale in Europe next year.
Similarly, Xpeng announced plans to sell cars in Germany in 2024 after entering the Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Dutch markets.
“We recognize that Germany is the most important market with the highest standards for any automaker,” Xpeng Motors President Brian Gu told CNBC on Monday.
Swiss bank UBS even downgraded two major European automakers due to the threat posed by China’s expanding electric vehicle market.
European firms ‘ready to participate’
European automakers are well aware of the competition posed by Chinese companies, Christian Kames told CNBC.
“(European carmakers) understand now that China (carmakers) is a real threat. The question is what will they do about it,” Camus said.
“I don’t think we’re at the stage where they underestimate the Chinese,” he added.
Renault Chief Executive Luca de Meo said on Monday that the French automaker was continuing to invest more in new technologies, notably its new dedicated electric vehicle unit Ampere, which he believed would allow the company to compete in In an advantageous position in international competition.
“We think we have reason and confidence (to cut costs), it will take some time because of the Chinese OEMs, they started a generation earlier than the Europeans, because the market conditions in China are different, so that’s the fight, we’re ready Participate,” De Meo told CNBC.
China’s advances in electric vehicles in Europe can also teach European countries how to better penetrate the Asian market, Chris Reitermann, CEO of Ogilvy Asia Pacific and Greater China, told CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng on Aug. 25.
“Many multinationals are struggling because they underestimate the enormous speed of the market. The move to electrification could be a good lesson in how multinationals need to do business if they want to succeed in China. ’” Reitman said in a video interview.
“A lot of the big auto companies are watching their market share get destroyed,” he said.
“Most of them realize now that they probably can’t do it alone, they probably can’t succeed in China alone, that’s why you see Volkswagen partnering with Xpeng, and I think you’re going to see more More things like this some local EV companies will partner with multinationals.”
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal, Evelyn Cheng and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.
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