Chinese electric vehicles debuted at the Paris Auto Show. The picture shows people visiting the Great Wall Motor Show. Photography/Xinhua
Xiangchanghe (International Issues Scholar)
Recently, China's mid-to-high-end electric vehicles appeared at the Paris Auto Show, becoming a topic of concern to public opinion in Europe and even the world. AFP reported on the exhibition of high-end electric vehicles such as BYD , Dongfeng Sellis, and Great Wall Motors on the topic of "Chinese automakers show high-end and ambitions at the Paris Auto Show". The article said, "There are no low-cost cars, but mid-range or even high-end cars equipped with advanced technology. Chinese automakers made a strong debut at the Paris International Auto Show and showed increasing ambitions in the European market."
Chinese electric vehicles made a high-profile debut at the Paris Auto Show, which is a silhouette of Chinese automobiles entering Europe and vigorously opening up the European market. As an automotive layman who has worked and lived in Europe for many years, the author is quite emotional about the comparison between Chinese automobiles' development of the European market. Through the "overtaking on the curve" of new energy vehicles, the Chinese automobile industry has gone from "looking up to" European counterparts to now starting to "look at" its opponents, and from this, it can see the persistent efforts of Chinese Autobots and the sonorous pace of China's rise.
I remember that in July 2005, the landwind car produced by Jiangling Group landed in Europe through Antwerp port , becoming the first Chinese automobile brand to enter the European market in batches. At that time, the European automobile industry represented by Germany, France and the United Kingdom was very developed, and the Chinese automobile industry was still very weak in comparison. It was quite a sense of "fairy" to enter the European market. In September of that year, cars of Geely , China and Jiangling 3 were collectively unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany for the first time. In April 2006, five Chinese brand cars including Hafei , Southeast , Xiali , Changfeng and Changhe were exhibited and sold in Antwerp.
In the spring of 2009, the author was invited to interview Bremen, Germany, the largest motor vehicle transit port in Europe, and felt that the host's extraordinary optimism about the potential of China's automobile industry. Due to the global financial crisis, , a rare phenomenon of " pushing the port " has occurred here. When I climbed up and saw tens of thousands of new motor vehicles parked neatly on the special car dock, it was spectacular. Bremen Port, which has a strategic vision, has turned its attention to the East - it specially invited six Chinese independent brand auto manufacturers including Chery , Huatai , Lifan , Foton , China, and BAIC to Bremen to discuss future cooperation.
The author was very confused about this and asked the host if he had "too high expectations and too early" for Chinese cars to move to Europe. I remember the port manager replied that China's independent brand cars are still weak, and it is unrealistic to enter the Western European market on a large scale within a few years, but in the long run, China's automobiles will repeat the scene of Japanese and Korean cars landing in Europe on a large scale.
To be honest, the author still disagrees with the "burst of confidence" in the host at that time. The author has visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum and has an indelible impression of the vastness and depth of German cars. Starting with the inventing of the first car in 1885, German cars have a long history of technological accumulation and brand quality. In the 130 years since the invention of the car, we have all "looked up" to European car colleagues represented by German cars. It is extremely difficult for Chinese Automobile to get a share of the market territory.
changes are always inadvertently. With the acceleration of China's rise, the development of the automobile industry has also become "changed in the world". In 2010, China surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy, and in 2009, China surpassed the United States to become the world's largest automobile producer. In the second decade of the new century, China Automobile went global to create glory one after another, represented by Geely's acquisition of Volvo , BYD's emergence, and Chery's popularity overseas.
Entering the 2020s, the explosion of new energy vehicles and the prosperity of new energy brands have become a new highlight of China's automobile industry.Compared with its European veteran cars, China's new energy vehicles have strong competitiveness in terms of supply chain, technology, economy, and models. This is an opportunity for China's automobile industry to overtake on the curve. In the past 10 years, the Chinese government's support policies for the new energy vehicle industry have been continuously strengthened. Chinese auto companies are actively transforming, and the overall strength of the new energy vehicle industry is constantly improving. Whether it is product appearance, quality, R&D, and production capacity, it can meet the global diversified market needs.
Data from the China Automobile Industry Association shows that China's automobile exports reached 2.015 million vehicles in 2021, ranking third in the world. From January to September this year, domestic automobile companies exported 2.117 million products, and increased by 455.5% year-on-year, of which 389,000 new energy vehicles were exported, an increase of more than 1 times year-on-year. China surpassed Germany to become the world's second largest automobile exporter.
From the beginning of the new century, China's independent brand automobiles are struggling to expand the European market, to the great development of new energy high-end cars entering Europe and even the whole world, in the past 20 years, the world's automobile production and sales have undergone earth-shaking changes, and the rise of the East has become the biggest variable. International public opinion and industry insiders exclaimed this profound change, and many internationally renowned media have recently reported it. " Nippon Keizai News " reported that Chinese new energy vehicles represented by BYD entered the "hometown of automobiles in Europe", while Japanese electric vehicles have "a low presence" in Europe. Bloomberg News reported that "With 10% electric vehicle penetration rate , China is ahead of almost all other countries in this field." The US " Wall Street Journal " recently reported that China's new energy vehicles are growing rapidly and are confident in competing for the global market.
The development and going global of China's automobile industry reflect a silhouette of China's manufacturing going to the world. Looking back at the beginning of the new century, China's total economic output was still behind old Western countries such as Britain and France. Now China has long been firmly in the second place in the world, and is constantly narrowing the gap with the world's number one United States. From "looking up" to "looking up" in line, Chinese automobiles are precisely a reflection of the transformation of Chinese people in viewing the developed Western world.
