It’s become commonplace to say it, but this time it’s obvious, Chinese automakers are stealing the show from Europeans at the Munich Motor Show (IAA). Successor to Frankfurt which was, behind Paris it must be emphasized, one of the largest in the world, the exhibition began on Monday in a gloomy economic context.
The traditional meeting of the European automotive sector will be officially opened tomorrow Tuesday by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. However, manufacturers are taking advantage of Monday’s press day to unveil new models. But, among the groups of the Old Continent, only the German manufacturers Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes – long a national pride but today weakened – are present in force.
BMW already presented its “Neue Klasse” (New Class) concept on Saturday, bringing together six electric cars manufactured from 2025 to meet the anticipated increase in demand with the end of combustion engines in Europe in 2035. On the French side, Stellantis is not represented only by its German brand Opel and the Renault group, only by the eponymous brand, to unveil its new Scenic.
On the contrary, it is the foreign brands that prevail: Tesla will be back on the show after ten years of absence, and even more so the Chinese competition. It is “launching its assault on Europe” with the show, summarizes Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, an expert from the Center Automotive Research in Germany.
BYD, Leapmotor, Dongfeng, Geely…, among the exhibitors, 41% have their headquarters in China. They threaten the dominant position of European manufacturers in the strategic market for electric models.
Their advantage is to offer models at slightly lower prices, with equivalent equipment. But the American Tesla does not want to be fooled and breaks its prices for a few weeks to resist competition, unprecedented for him. Still lacking in the current offer the small entry-level electric car, still absent subscribers. On this one, which is however the most legitimate with a city car use, the commercial proposal still proves to be unprofitable for many manufacturers.
To “be able to compete with India and China”, Mercedes boss Ola Källenius urged on Sunday not to “aggravate” the state of European competitiveness by fueling claims, strong among German trade unions, on the introduction of a four-day week.
Added to this are the difficulties of European producers in China. In electrics, Volkswagen, leader in the thermal market, represented only 3.1% of the market last year, far behind Chinese brands like BYD (18%) and the American Tesla with (8.7%).
“Forecasts anticipate that international groups will lose market share to locals and Tesla,” notes Eric Kirstetter, senior partner at consulting firm Roland Berger.
Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume said Sunday evening he was “impressed” by the “speed” of automotive technology development in China, and called it “crucial” for the group to “succeed in the transformation to electric power there. “. According to the automotive innovation barometer by researcher Stefan Bratzel, published on Friday, Chinese manufacturers were in 2022, “for the first time” since the start of the study in 2005, more innovative than German groups.
At the same time, traditional manufacturers are under pressure in the face of the economic slowdown in their historic market. It threatens the insolent profits they have made since the end of the health crisis by taking advantage of inflation to inflate margins. Because, while car sales in the European Union (EU) have been growing for twelve months, they remain more than 20% below their 2019 level.
In addition, the show should be marked, like the 2021 edition, by environmental protest. From dawn on Monday, a handful of Greenpeace activists installed carcasses in the lake in front of the main entrance to the exhibition center.
“The auto industry continues to bet on too many, and too big, cars, and is sinking the planet with this economic model,” Marissa Reiserer, spokesperson for the NGO, told AFP. This, like many of its sisters, is nevertheless at odds with the ecological balance sheets of the electric car and the electricity it consumes, nuclear power being much more virtuous than coal.
In local folklore, several groups have announced “civil disobedience actions” all week and some 1,500 people are expected at the “mobility revolution encampment” in a park on the outskirts of Munich.
In total, 700,000 visitors are expected at the IAA, compared to 410,000 in 2021, on the stands distributed between the convention center, paying, and the city center, where free entertainment will be offered around cars… but also bicycles. Renamed IAA Mobility in 2021, when the auto show moved from Frankfurt to Munich, the organizers want to highlight “mobility, sustainability and technology”.
