- German carmakers fully committed to EVs
- The business with the blue haze
- 5G with Huawei? A question of trust
- HRW: crimes against humanity in Xinjiang
- Italy welcomes collapsed Iveco sale to FAW
- EU unveils Indo-Pacific strategy
- Berthold Kuhn: Confrontation does not lead to the goal
The Greens have decided: Annalena Baerbock will lead them into the Bundestag election campaign as their candidate for chancellor. If she’s successful it will have consequences for Germany’s relations with China – at least if you believe Baerbock’s statements so far, for she demands a hard line towards the People’s Republic. She sees a systemic rivalry with Beijing that goes far beyond economic policy issues. “It is a substantive issue of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and greening.” Trade is a powerful lever for defending and strengthening human rights and democratic values.
How would a Chancellor Baerbock look at the car show in Shanghai? Frank Sieren reports directly from the exhibition halls and shows how much the German carmakers are aligning their product range with the wishes of Chinese customers.
Baerbock’s distrust would probably also prevail when it comes to the second main topic: Huawei’s role in the planned expansion of the German IT security law. The Chinese network supplier is considered technically adept and comparatively inexpensive. But its trustworthiness is not particularly good, as Marcel Grzanna shows in his report.
Meanwhile, Ning Wang presents the e-cigarette boom in China: Companies like Relx were able to amass billions of US dollars within just under three years. But this could now come to an end: Beijing’s authorities want to put an end to the wild goings-on. At least from a health point of view, even a green chancellor could probably find something to like about this rigid approach.
I wish you many new insights while reading.
Michael Radunski
Feature
Auto Shanghai 2021: German carmakers fully committed to EVs
According to a study by the consulting firm Ernst&Young (EY), which was published in time for Auto Shanghai 2021 that’s currently underway, German car manufacturers have weathered the COVID-19 crisis comparatively well. According to the study, Daimler, Volkswagen, and BMW, with a combined decline in sales of ten percent, a drop in unit sales of 14 percent, and a decline in operating profit of 26 percent, have performed significantly better on average than major carmakers in other countries.
The Chinese business, in particular, has saved the balance sheet of the automotive industry: In 2020, almost every fourth new car from Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler went to a Chinese customer. Looking at the world’s 17 largest car companies, total passenger car sales by these manufacturers in China fell by only four percent. In the USA, the decline was 14 percent, and in Western Europe, sales even fell by 25 percent.
This creates great pressure to continue to meet the wishes of customers in China. At Auto Shanghai, this pressure is noticeably discharged in a fireworks display of new e-models that are fully aligned with the demands of the Chinese market. All the major German carmakers are working on electric drives with long ranges, a driving experience that is as autonomous as possible, increasingly high-quality technology, better networking options, and more interfaces for entertainment.
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