“No Chinese would buy an electric car from VW today – BYD is too far ahead”

2023-10-22 10:54:47

Is the German car industry really that far behind technologically?
Wenpo Lee: The idea that Germany was ahead of the Chinese is definitely no longer the case. And new inventions only come with hard work, with constant improvements to existing products. If we don’t work hard, the Chinese will have better know-how than us in the long term.
Felix Lee: With the change to electric drives, the balance of power has shifted. And it’s no longer the classic Chinese car manufacturers who are the competitors. They are tech companies and battery manufacturers. In other words, companies that come from a completely different area, that tick completely differently, and that, above all, don’t have the huge apparatus that VW still has through its combustion engine business.
Wenpo Lee: A very vivid example: Chinese employees or suppliers used to come to Germany to learn. For example in Salzgitter, in Volkswagen’s combustion engine factory. Today, all Chinese systems are in use in Germany; the entire battery manufacturing plant in Salzgitter, for example, is from China. And our mechanical engineers are sent to China to learn. Times are changing.
Felix Lee: And of course that also requires a massive rethink from the people of Wolfsburg, who for a long time were used to saying: The Chinese are learning from us, they are looking up to us. Suddenly you have to look humbly at your Chinese partners and hope that they can teach you things.