Sales of BMW, Mercedes -Benz, Volkswagen and Porsche collapsed in China. Bloomberg news agency analyzed the statistics on the demand for new models of the German brands and came to a disappointing conclusion. According to calculations, the combined share of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and their subsidiary brands has fallen from 25 to 14 percent in five years. Even worse: in the electric car segment, the share of German premium brands is below ten percent.
Chinese buyers are no longer willing to pay high prices for handling, powerful engine and brand: consumers choose “technical sophistication“ and in a very specific sense. Of interest are new infotainment systems, augmented reality features and digital services. Customers claim that BYD, Xpeng or Nio electric cars are cheaper, better equipped and more functional than German ones.
The statistics reflect this point of view well: in the third quarter of 2024, BMW's sales in China fell 30%, Mercedes-Benz lost 13%, Porsche - 19% of sales, and Volkswagen closed the three months in the red with 15%. The German auto giants together are worth about half of BYD's stock market value, but the Chinese market is too important for German automakers to stop fighting. Bloomberg experts suggest that attempts to maintain market positions in the Celestial Heart could be a “huge risk”.
Well, if things continue to develop in this direction, the German car industry will be stuck even more, because it is not so easy to leave the Chinese market segment: joint ventures with Chinese car manufacturers are structured in such a way that without approval, neither large-scale job cuts nor the sale of a share in the plant are possible.