2024-06-23 14:57:35
The European Championships are happening in Germany, however the sponsors are primarily Chinese language corporations. Even the large automobile corporations aren’t concerned this time. What’s behind it.
White letters on a black background: BYD, official sponsor of the European ChampionshipThe advert is at the moment operating earlier than the European Soccer Championship matches. Nevertheless, many Germans will in all probability not have heard of the Chinese language electrical automobile producer till then. In spite of everything, just a few thousand automobiles of the model are at the moment on the roads of Germany.
However the firm has bold plans. With the slogan “Construct Your Desires”, the corporate has turn into market chief in China inside just some years and has additionally left its US competitor Tesla behind.
Now the model can be set to achieve a foothold in Germany. BYD has already taken Volkswagen’s place as a sponsor of the European Championship, and sooner or later BYD additionally needs to compete with the Wolfsburg-based firm when it comes to gross sales figures.
BYD is considered one of 14 international corporations sponsoring the European Championship. 4 different corporations from China are concerned: cost service supplier Alipay, on-line retailer AliExpress, electronics producer Hisense and expertise firm Vivo. The opposite sponsors are: the Qatari tourism authority Go to Qatar, the British firm Unilever, the US beverage producer Coca-Cola, the German sports activities gear producer Adidas, the German retailer Engelbert Strauss, the low cost chain Lidl, the French IT service supplier Atos, the Austrian sports activities betting platform Betano and the Dutch reserving web site reserving.com.
BYD’s acknowledged purpose on the European Championships is to “current our newest electrical automobiles to a large viewers throughout this prestigious occasion,” as the corporate’s web site states. The corporate due to this fact needs to extend its visibility.
That is completely obligatory. Final 12 months, the Federal Motor Transport Authority registered simply 4,141 new registrations of BYD. This 12 months, from January to Could, solely 777 new automobiles had been added. Which means that the producer’s automobiles make up simply 0.1 % in Germany. By comparability, in Could alone, 47,600 automobiles from Volkswagen and 19,800 from Mercedes had been newly registered. In its dwelling market in China, nonetheless, BYD has been the market chief in electrical automobiles because the fourth quarter of 2023.
BYD emphasizes the sustainability facet of its automobiles. This matches completely with UEFA’s targets of creating the event “greener and extra environmentally pleasant.” BYD is a conglomerate with subsidiaries BYD Auto, BYD Electronics and FinDreams. Based in 1995, the corporate initially manufactured batteries for different automobile corporations. Since 2003, BYD has been constructing its personal automobiles and has specialised in electrical automobiles and hybrid fashions.
The producer brings a brand new automobile mannequin onto the market virtually each quarter. However it’s the comparatively low costs that persuade many purchasers in Asia. At occasions, BYD was concerned in an actual worth struggle with competitor Tesla. In depth authorities assist in China permits BYD to supply low costs.
The corporate additionally needs to make a breakthrough in Europe, and in February despatched 3,000 automobiles to Bremerhaven by itself freighter “BYD Explorer No 1”. However gross sales are gradual, and demand in Germany has collapsed because the electrical automobile subsidy was canceled. Most of the automobiles delivered are due to this fact nonetheless in Bremerhaven and a few have already began to mould, because the “Handelsblatt” first reported.
This week, the EU Fee additionally offered the outcomes of its investigation into potential market distortions brought on by Chinese language state subsidies. BYD might face extra tariffs of 17.4 %. The USA had already imposed particular tariffs on Chinese language electrical automobiles in April. You possibly can learn extra concerning the European punitive tariffs right here.