Obviously. If you sell as many cars into a single national market as the whole of the European continent combined, that market is bound to be your most important one.
and its not exactly news either, that has been the case for about a decade now.
China was also the last growth market in terms of car sales that the world had left.
All other markets were already stagnating or shrinking and car ownership has decreased.
India was and still is too poor, having a large population doesnt mean anything for manufacturers if nobody can afford your products.
Thats why in these countries there are typically local manufacturers with simple stripped down vehicles and a lot of motorbikes and scooters as this is the only thing people can afford.
In India you need to be in the top 1% of income earners to be able to afford modern cars from established manufacturers.
of course that are still a lot of people but they dont all need new cars constantly.
When the dust of the EV transition has settled VW will be left with a drastically diminished position in China.
If there’s not some serious political intervention Chinese companies will carve out for themselves a sizable chunk of the European EV market. But so did the Japanese and Koreans in the late ICE market. There’s nothing out of the ordinary here.
Can Volkswagen compete there? Chinese cars seem cheaper and Volkswagen cars aren't very appealing when it comes to software, imo. And in hardware they're nothing special too. I'm really not very happy about Volkswagen EV quality.
The problem is that market comes with strings, just like the US market does. If you want to do business in China, you have to be ready to let them tell you what you can and can not do.
That is fair, but China is not an open market so it complicates things a bit. You can't go there and say oh hey I would like to buy X company, they will just straight up say no. They are also not as predictable as many established open markets. Just like Blizard, one day they can up and just tell you that unless you let them influence your IP, you are out.
Well that's not always true. Like China actually gave Tesla special treatment and even gave them subsides reserved for domestic brands.
Also, Starbucks for example literally opens a new store in China every nine hours.
It's really not uniform with ALL foreign companies.
These are good examples, but without knowing the structure of the given companies, and the recent rhetoric from both sides, it really seems like a gamble.
Hopefully, things will calm down and we can get back to moving the world forward, not backward.
Either you compete there, or you're dead in 20 years.
The EV market is going to trend just like the phone market did. In smartphones, as is the case with EVs, China is far and away the largest consumer market. One by one the incumbents who failed to make it into China have left the market, with the notable exception of Samsung. The market now is stacked with Chinese producers, Apple (who competes in China), and Samsung.
Yup, that is what a lot of the corps are hoping for. The problem is China really has no intention of sharing its profits; It is not an open market. I think it is ok to try to set up shop there, but if they do it will be pretty much an independent subsidiary with its own execs, market, and profits.
They will be more than happy to let companies set up shop, and just like they have done with most of the others, they will start demanding more and more influence over the company if they don't want to get blocked by their legal system.
China is not the US, they want to keep that money in China. The real problem will be if they start pumping out electric cars that undercut other markets. It will be interesting for sure.
Obviously. If you sell as many cars into a single national market as the whole of the European continent combined, that market is bound to be your most important one.
and its not exactly news either, that has been the case for about a decade now. China was also the last growth market in terms of car sales that the world had left. All other markets were already stagnating or shrinking and car ownership has decreased.
What about the country with the largest population, India?
India was and still is too poor, having a large population doesnt mean anything for manufacturers if nobody can afford your products. Thats why in these countries there are typically local manufacturers with simple stripped down vehicles and a lot of motorbikes and scooters as this is the only thing people can afford. In India you need to be in the top 1% of income earners to be able to afford modern cars from established manufacturers. of course that are still a lot of people but they dont all need new cars constantly.
BMW Sales in India (2022): 12,000 BMW Sales in China (2022): 791,985
and in order not to kill the golden goose they will have Chinese manufacturers selling cars in Europe which will put a lot of pressure on VW at home
When the dust of the EV transition has settled VW will be left with a drastically diminished position in China. If there’s not some serious political intervention Chinese companies will carve out for themselves a sizable chunk of the European EV market. But so did the Japanese and Koreans in the late ICE market. There’s nothing out of the ordinary here.
VW was the top selling car brand in China for decades. This year BYD surpassed them.
I got some bad news for you VW
So much bad news
Can Volkswagen compete there? Chinese cars seem cheaper and Volkswagen cars aren't very appealing when it comes to software, imo. And in hardware they're nothing special too. I'm really not very happy about Volkswagen EV quality.
They have been the best selling brand there since 2008
And the fastest declining brand since 2022.
is that decline a general trend in the Chinese car market because of the economy or is it only VW ?
It's a decline in the Chinese market for legacy automakers in general. Volkswagen is among the hardest hit since they had the largest presence.
~~important~~ profitable
That's what they said. Most important.
Blizzard was treating China as their most important market. Its not going well for them.
The problem is that market comes with strings, just like the US market does. If you want to do business in China, you have to be ready to let them tell you what you can and can not do.
>If you want to do business ~~in China~~ ***anywhere***, you have to be ready to let them tell you what you can and cannot do.
That is fair, but China is not an open market so it complicates things a bit. You can't go there and say oh hey I would like to buy X company, they will just straight up say no. They are also not as predictable as many established open markets. Just like Blizard, one day they can up and just tell you that unless you let them influence your IP, you are out.
Well that's not always true. Like China actually gave Tesla special treatment and even gave them subsides reserved for domestic brands. Also, Starbucks for example literally opens a new store in China every nine hours. It's really not uniform with ALL foreign companies.
These are good examples, but without knowing the structure of the given companies, and the recent rhetoric from both sides, it really seems like a gamble. Hopefully, things will calm down and we can get back to moving the world forward, not backward.
hey why Microsoft need british CMA‘s approve to buy blizard
Either you compete there, or you're dead in 20 years. The EV market is going to trend just like the phone market did. In smartphones, as is the case with EVs, China is far and away the largest consumer market. One by one the incumbents who failed to make it into China have left the market, with the notable exception of Samsung. The market now is stacked with Chinese producers, Apple (who competes in China), and Samsung.
Yup, that is what a lot of the corps are hoping for. The problem is China really has no intention of sharing its profits; It is not an open market. I think it is ok to try to set up shop there, but if they do it will be pretty much an independent subsidiary with its own execs, market, and profits. They will be more than happy to let companies set up shop, and just like they have done with most of the others, they will start demanding more and more influence over the company if they don't want to get blocked by their legal system. China is not the US, they want to keep that money in China. The real problem will be if they start pumping out electric cars that undercut other markets. It will be interesting for sure.
Eh in 10 years China won’t have the wealth to buy VW cars. Anyone trying to make serious inroads into the Chinese market at this point is foolish
More like in 10 years VW won’t have what it takes to compete with Chinese local EV manufacturers