These days, the 2023 Munich Motor Show is being held in Munich, Germany. The full name of the Munich Motor Show is "German International Automotive and Smart Mobility Expo" (abbreviation: IAA Mobility), its predecessor is one of the world's five major motor shows "Frankfurt Motor Show", in 2021, the venue of the motor show moved from Frankfurt to BMW's "hometown" Munich, so it was renamed Munich Motor Show.
As an international A-class motor show, and it is held in Germany, which has the longest automotive history and the highest concentration of luxury brands, the importance of this motor show is self-evident. This year, the Munich Motor Show not only attracted many German car companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen, but also attracted many Chinese car companies. According to statistics, among the more than 700 exhibitors, more than 50 are Chinese automotive industry-related enterprises, including vehicle enterprises, battery-related enterprises, and intelligent vehicle software and hardware related enterprises, forming the strongest Chinese automobile enterprise exhibition corps in history.
The picture shows the Avita booth surrounded by spectators
ALTHOUGH THE MAINSTREAM CAR COMPANIES IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA WERE GENERALLY ABSENT, AND THE EUROPEAN LOCAL GIANT STELLANTIS GROUP DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE EXHIBITION, THE NUMBER OF CHINESE MAIN ENGINE MANUFACTURERS PARTICIPATING IN THIS YEAR'S EXHIBITION WAS GREATLY UNEXPECTED BY EUROPEAN CAR COMPANIES, WITH A TOTAL OF 6 CHINESE NEW ENERGY VEHICLE COMPANIES SUCH AS BYD, ZEROSPORT, AVITA, CELIS, MG, XPENG, ETC. BYD's booth even surpassed Mercedes-Benz, covering an area of 915 square meters, the largest of all exhibitors.
In the face of the counterattack of the "Chinese New Energy Army", Europe is generally anxious. Whether it is the government, the media or the European auto industry, they have paid great attention to the high-profile appearance of Chinese car companies. Some media said that Chinese companies successfully stole the attention of Europeans at the Munich Motor Show.
From Shanghai to Munich, Chinese new energy vehicles have counterattacked Europe
The rise of China's new energy vehicles has already been seen in advance by multinational car giants at the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year. On the day of the media day, many executives of multinational car companies organized a group to observe the pre-exhibition of Chinese brands. Three years of the epidemic, China's new energy vehicle progress has impressed them,
BMW Group Chairman Zipze frequently sent golden sentences at the BMW Brand Night event: "Today's trends in China will lead the direction of tomorrow's world", "If you can be excellent in China, you can shine in the world", "Whoever can attract Chinese consumers today, who can win the world tomorrow", etc.
After more than four months, when the "Chinese Legion" moved its booth to Munich this time and faced global luxury brands in the world's high-end intelligent electric vehicle track, the impact on European car companies was obvious. Some media noticed that BYD's booth was full of European visitors, and even BYD's boss Wang Chuanfu was squeezed outside his booth.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the appearance of the "Chinese Legion" in Munich shows that on the new energy track, Chinese brands already have the strength to wrestle with global automobile brands, highlighting the confidence of Chinese new energy vehicle brands.
At the same time, for Chinese car companies going global, the benefits are also obvious: on the one hand, taking the opportunity to participate in the exhibition can attract and find partners such as overseas dealers to help brands go overseas and explore the market; On the other hand, high-profile appearances at major overseas auto shows help convey the brand's extraordinary strength to the domestic market and enhance the brand image.
Regardless of the purpose of participating in the exhibition, the strength of China's new energy vehicles has indeed begun to be recognized by the world. Christophe Peria, chief executive of French auto parts maker Valeo, said China is now the company's main market because barriers to entry for diesel locomotives have been removed, making Chinese new energy car companies not only emerging at home but also potential car exporters.
Many overseas automakers recognize that as global demand for electric vehicles grows and Chinese companies can produce batteries at lower costs, the competitive advantage of European automakers is being cut by Chinese brands.
The counterattack against Chinese car companies has begun
In the face of the advance of Chinese brands, European counterparts have not only paid attention to it, but also vigilance. In their view, Chinese new energy vehicles are threatening the dominance of European manufacturers in the strategic market for electric models.
On September 5, German Chancellor Scholz announced at the Munich Motor Show an incentive program aimed at promoting sustainable innovation "Made in Germany" to motivate German car companies to face the development pressure brought by China's emerging markets. He announced that the Federal Government will invest more than 110 billion euros to promote the modernization of German industry and climate protection, including accelerating investments in charging infrastructure, renewable energy, batteries and other strategically important areas to support the development of the German electric vehicle industry.
Talking about the impact of Chinese car companies on the German market, Scholz said, "Competition should motivate us, not be intimidated." Germany's international competitiveness as an automotive powerhouse is unquestionable. I can hardly think of any other place in the world with such a high level of automotive manufacturing technology and such a dense concentration of suppliers and automakers. ”
He pointed out that over the past few decades, the German automotive industry has been subject to competition from Japan and South Korea, respectively; Today, electric vehicles from China will also provide German car companies with an "innovation driver".
At this auto show, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi all exhibited new products built around the latest electrification and digital technologies.
Gu Hong, president of Xpeng Motors, said that with the increasingly fierce competition between Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and European manufacturers, German automakers have developed a very strong sense of crisis, especially Chinese electric vehicle companies have sprung up in overseas markets, further aggravating the sense of crisis of German car companies.
In his opinion, from this auto show, German car companies have made up their minds to solve problems and produce more competitive electric vehicles, and they have shown "the strongest determination to change ever" to try to catch up with competitors and meet challenges in the field of electric vehicles.
"Attack and defense" anxiety, the real showdown is not yet coming
Although this contest between Chinese car companies and European car companies is like an "offensive and defensive" war, it is not so easy for both offensive and defensive sides.
On the other side, although Chinese car companies have gone overseas in recent years to enter the European market, they also face considerable difficulties. On the one hand, European consumers are very driven by brand recognition, and they may be skeptical of new Chinese brands; On the other hand, the European auto market is specific, different countries have different consumer demand differences and preferences, how to eliminate consumer skepticism, how to fully understand and meet differentiated needs and localization preferences are the problems that Chinese brand new energy vehicles need to solve.
"Chinese competitors will not be able to offer the same prices as China in Europe," Volkswagen President Oliver Bloom said on Monday, referring to customs and transportation costs, and even the cost of building a network of distributors.
On the defensive side, while European automakers are scrambling to increase EV production through cooperation and investment in the face of the rise of Chinese rivals, anxiety lingers. Because the European Union has stipulated that internal combustion engine vehicles will be phased out by 2035, the plan is currently being criticized by European car companies, who fear that the ban will be detrimental to local car companies because of the lack of access to the raw materials needed to make car batteries and the slow construction of charging infrastructure.
BMW Group Chairman and CEO Ziptzer said that the EU's policy of banning internal combustion engine vehicles has prompted European traditional car brands to start direct competition with Chinese car brands, but European brands may be difficult to gain an advantage, especially cheaper car manufacturers in Europe, because their competitors are more advantageous Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, most Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are targeting the market segment below 300,000 yuan, resulting in fierce competition in the market and low profit margins.
He worries that the EU may not be able to meet the deadline to complete its mandate to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles, saying Europe's charging infrastructure is still "far behind expectations... Some countries have not developed any infrastructure at all".
However, European car companies have also noticed that China's automobile exports are increasing, especially new energy vehicles are becoming the backbone of China's export trade, and new energy vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries are becoming the "new three things" that China exports overseas.
According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs of China, after China's automobile exports surpassed Japan for the first time in the first half of the year and jumped to the first place in the world, the mainland has exported a total of 3.216 million vehicles from January to August this year, a year-on-year increase of 69%, of which electric vehicles are the main driving force for the growth of China's automobile exports, and Europe is becoming a large incremental market for China's automobile exports.
For the curve overtaking of China's new energy vehicles, many Chinese people feel very proud, but industry insiders also remind that although in the field of smart electric vehicles, Chinese brands have accumulated certain advantages, but it is not yet the time to be proud, because the European auto market is also accelerating the transformation of electrification, Germany, the United Kingdom and France and other countries are actively responding to the trend of decarbonization, and the real showdown has not yet arrived.