Auto giants switch up a gear

Carmakers introduce new models to stay ahead of industrial curve in key market

China is playing an ever more important role in the drive of German carmakers to shift toward electric and smart mobility, as they make efforts to strengthen their foothold in the world's largest auto market.

One in three cars produced by German manufacturing groups Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler is sold in China, making it their largest single market, according to Fleet Europe.

Last year, Volkswagen and its three joint ventures in China with FAW Group, SAIC Motor Corp and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group sold some 4.2 million vehicles under brands ranging from Audi and Volkswagen to Skoda.

Herbert Diess, the VW group chairman, said in April that China is shaping the world in terms of e-mobility, digitalization and autonomous driving.

"Nowhere else can you experience this electric revolution than in China. Here, e-mobility is accelerating at a tremendous speed," Diess said. "People's mindsets and governmental guidelines are more positive toward e-cars than in any other country."

The group plans to deliver 22 million new energy vehicles worldwide by 2028, with more than half coming from China.

By the end of this year, it will offer 14 new energy vehicle models in China and expects to deliver 400,000 electric cars to Chinese customers in 2020. The figure is planned to rise to 1.5 million in 2025.

For BMW, another German auto giant, China has also been its largest market since 2013.

Harald Krueger, BMW's chairman, said that China is now home to BMW's largest research and development facilities outside of Germany. With them, the company will tap into the huge potential of the market and develop technologies and products for global customers.

From 2020 the electric BMW iX3 SUV will roll off the production line at its joint venture BMW Brilliance in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, and will be sold globally, with more models to join later, he said.

In 2018, its deliveries in China increased 7.7 percent year-on-year to more than 640,000 vehicles.

The German company cooperated with internet giant Alibaba earlier this year to increase connectivity. Thus BMW will be the first premium carmaker to integrate intelligent voice assistant, Tmall Genie, into its cars, with the service becoming available later in 2019.

In terms of autonomous driving, BMW has completed tens of thousands of kilometers in road tests across the country and hundreds of thousands of kilometers in simulations.

The company said it will take a seat on the board of the Baidu Apollo autonomous driving initiative.

With its core business forming the backbone of Daimler's future growth, China has been the largest single market for Mercedes-Benz since 2015.

"We are convinced that continued and future success in this market will only be possible with the right range of new energy vehicles, especially battery electric vehicles," said Hubertus Troska, member of the board of management of Daimler, responsible for China.

Daimler is investing in more production capacity with BAIC Group, including a new battery factory at their joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive.

The carmaker announced the formation of a global 50-50 joint venture with China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to develop electric models of the smart brand.

Next-generation models are expected to be introduced for the global market by 2022.

"We are planning to offer more than 10 purely electric vehicles worldwide within the next few years, and we are striving to build most of them locally here in China," Troska said.

The brand sold 404,092 vehicles in China in the first seven months of 2019, an increase of 2.9 percent year-on-year, ranking first among premium brands in the country.

caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/07/2019 page11)