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.
German manufacturers for decades leaned into making their cars unique through engine and driving dynamics.
With EV, the engines are all pretty much the same in behaviour and can be quickly and easily tuned. The chassis has to be completely reimagined to hold the batteries and the massive weight is inescapable, with significant impact on driving dynamics. In a word, EVs are simple appliances.
It’s hard to compete without differentiation, especially when you’ve allowed the competition a decade+ head start.
Japanese carmakers have been largely about building appliances with ICE, and theyre arguably farther behind on electrification than German manufacturers (no, 25 years of mild hybrid doesn’t count), but they do have a rabid following of people who want reliable appliance type cars.
I don’t think that designing and building in China will change the fundamental calculus.
The unions are just as culpable as the leadership, I think. They’re not asking for reskilling or EV focus.