"In China, for China", "Home in China", "Development in China, Progress with China" ...... German automakers are not just talking about the Chinese market.
Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was invited to visit China, and the delegation accompanying him on this visit included three cabinet ministers, including Mercedes-Benz Group Chairman Kang Linsong, and BMW Group Chairman Zipzer and other German business executives.
Reuters pointed out that the list of visits highlights China's status as Germany's largest trading partner, which is extremely important to German industry, especially in car manufacturing.
It is understood that after Scholz arrived in Chongqing, he first visited Bosch Hydrogen Power Systems (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Bosch Group of Germany and Qingling Motors Group of China, to visit a variety of hydrogen power products and hydrogen fuel cell solutions developed and produced by the company. Subsequently, the German government delegation visited the BMW Group's R&D center in Beijing, China, to exchange views on topics such as sustainability and circular economy.
Kang Linsong and Zipzer have also repeatedly reiterated the importance of the Chinese market, and Mercedes-Benz and BMW will continue to expand their investment in China. In addition, Volkswagen, which has not been followed up, is also firmly arranged. Just before Scholz's visit, the Volkswagen Group announced that it would invest 2.5 billion euros to accelerate local R&D capabilities to meet the changing needs of the Chinese market, demonstrating its determination to develop the Chinese market.
"The German market welcomes Chinese cars"
"The German market welcomes Chinese cars. Scholz stressed that the European market must compete openly and fairly with China.
Data shows that since 2016, China has been Germany's largest trading partner for eight consecutive years. In 2023, German investment in China accounted for 10.3 percent of Germany's total overseas investment, the highest level since 2014. Among them, the investment in the automotive industry is increasing year by year.
Noah Barkin, an analyst on Europe-China relations at the Rhodium Group, an American economic research firm, pointed out that "German automakers believe that the Chinese market is a matter of life and death from any point of view." "German companies still see China as a huge growing market and plan to focus more on the Chinese market.
It is worth noting that in October last year, the EU launched a countervailing investigation against Chinese electric vehicles, and is currently conducting a sample survey of 3 Chinese companies, and will decide whether to impose additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles based on the results of the investigation.
On the eve of Scholz's visit to China, the German Association of the Automotive Industry publicly opposed the EU's imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese imports of electric vehicles, saying that it could trigger a trade war and threaten German jobs, jeopardizing the EU's goal of promoting electric vehicles and moving towards digital transformation.
Michael Schumann, chairman of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade, also pointed out in an interview with CCTV that multinational car companies from China have made important contributions to the transformation process of the German automotive industry by continuously improving their localized R&D capabilities and providing pioneering technical solutions for European users.
It is understood that up to now, including SAIC, Geely, Great Wall, Xiaopeng and other car companies have entered the German market, and some brands have also set up design centers and intelligent driving technology centers in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW also reaffirmed the importance of the Chinese market. Kang Linsong pointed out, "We welcome China's continued high-level opening-up and are optimistic about the development potential of the Chinese market." China plays an important role in Mercedes-Benz's global strategy, not only as our largest single market, but also as one of the world's largest Mercedes-Benz production sites and technology innovation centers. In the future, we will continue to invest in China, strengthen cooperation with Chinese partners, vigorously promote electrification and digital transformation, and continue to contribute to Sino-German economic and trade cooperation." ”
Zipzer also said that the BMW Group has been rooted in China for 30 years and has benefited from the German-Chinese free trade and China's high-level opening-up policy. "China is the future and the BMW Group's largest market in the world. We are confident in the prospects of the Chinese market, and we are determined to continue to invest in China and make a greater contribution to deepening German-Chinese cooperation. ”
To increase investment in China, the Chinese market remains a top priority
The Chinese market has always been the top priority of Mercedes-Benz and BMW's strategic layout.
According to the financial report data released by Mercedes-Benz, the sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in the Chinese market in 2023 will account for more than 35% of its total global sales. In the first quarter of 2024, the 5 millionth localized Mercedes-Benz car successfully rolled off the assembly line at Beijing Benz. In the future, Beijing Benz will continue to improve the digital "intelligence" level of production lines and quality management systems, and realize the efficient mixed production of pure electric, hybrid and fuel vehicles.
According to Kang Linsong, in the past two years, the Shanghai R&D center, which focuses on digital innovation, has become the fastest-growing team in the Mercedes-Benz global R&D network. The opening of the new building of the Shanghai R&D center this month marks that Mercedes-Benz's local R&D has entered a new stage of development of "leading the global trend with Chinese innovation".
According to the plan, Mercedes-Benz will bring more than 15 new products covering various drive forms to the Chinese market in 2024, and the new modular architecture (MMA) platform model will be put into production at Beijing Benz in 2025. At the upcoming 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz will bring 21 models and forward-looking technologies, including 1 world premiere, 7 Chinese premieres and auto show debuts, and 8 Chinese debuts. Among them, the all-new Mercedes-Benz all-electric G-Class off-road vehicle will usher in the world premiere.
Like Mercedes-Benz, BMW is also continuing to deploy in China.
It is reported that BMW has established the largest and most complete R&D network in China outside Germany, covering four R&D and innovation bases in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing. BMW plans to launch a next-generation model with a new E/E architecture in the global market in 2025, with six models in two years to be mass-produced, and the model will be produced locally in Shenyang, China in 2026.
In the past three years, BMW's R&D team in China has tripled, and now has more than 3,000 R&D and digital talents, focusing on software development, autonomous driving, and UI/UX design and development. It is worth mentioning that BMW's R&D and design teams in China are deeply involved in many key tasks of BMW's next-generation models, and the innovations in the Chinese market will become the highlight of the new generation of models.
In Zipzer's view, "China is not only a huge market, but also a frontier for BMW in global electrification and digital transformation. "BMW will continue to be based in China, continuously enhance its strategic position in the future development of the Chinese market, and contribute to the high-quality development of China's automotive industry with continuous product and technological innovation.
In addition, as the automotive industry accelerates its transformation to new vehicles, the Volkswagen Group is also accelerating its presence in China. This year, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Volkswagen Group's presence in China, the Group announced an investment of 2.5 billion euros to further expand its production and innovation center in Hefei.
In addition to strengthening its local R&D capabilities, the Volkswagen Group will also produce two Volkswagen-branded models jointly developed with Xpeng Motors in Hefei. Among them, the first midsize SUV is scheduled to go into production in 2026. It is worth mentioning that the two parties will also jointly develop a high-performance electronic and electrical architecture for electric vehicles for the Chinese market, CEA, laying an innovative foundation for the Group's electric vehicles for the Chinese market and enhancing its competitiveness in digital intelligence.
"With the 'In China, For China' strategy, the Volkswagen Group is deeply focused on customer needs and accelerates the pace of business adjustment in China with faster development and stronger local R&D. ”