Germany’s carmakers are now trying to shift engineering east, both to stay competitive in the Chinese market as well as to integrate technologies developed there into cars sold abroad.
Volkswagen said a year ago that it could now design cars from start to finish in China at its centre in Hefei.
Both BMW and VW have said they hope to export vehicles from China into other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
The low-cost Volkswagen ID.Every1, slated for European launch in 2027, will meanwhile have an electric motor made in China.
EV sales have risen sharply over the last year again in Germany as well as in Europe, and the best-selling EV models in Europe come from Czech manufacturer Skoda, German manufacturers Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, and Tesla. Among the top-10 EVs in Germany, there are no Chinese brands. Yet the propaganda tells you everyone is buying Chinese EVs in Europe.