Focus: German Cars Struggle in China as Consumers Choose Local Brands Instead

The German auto industry, which was once a true flagship not just of Europe but of the entire world during its golden era, is today in a dismal state. The issue lies in the strong competition from Chinese automobiles. Even the preference for trendy electric cars does not rectify the situation. For instance, in the past October, the company Mercedes could not sell a single electric vehicle Mercedes EQE, which belongs to the sedan class, in China. This year, German car manufacturers produced no more than 300 versions of this model, which clearly indicates a deep crisis for automakers from Germany, as reported by journalists from the magazine Focus.

The publication particularly emphasizes that not a single one of the 1.4 billion Chinese residents wanted to buy an electric Mercedes last October. The situation is not much better for Audi in the spacious Chinese auto market. The failure also affected its parent company VW, which decided not to produce the Audi E-Tron due to insufficient demand for the model.

As reported by a representative from Audi's PR department, last year the company's electric vehicles were sold in China in a total of only 31,170 units, which is quite low for the largest domestic market of all.

The only thing that is in high demand in China regarding German automotive products is fossil fuel engines – gasoline and diesel.

Currently, what attracts Chinese buyers the most is the purchase of electric cars, particularly those produced by Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and Xiaomi. The products from the latter have a much better price-to-quality ratio compared to the models produced by German automotive brands.