The head of the car manufacturer Volkswagen, Oliver Blume, sees China as a kind of “fitness center“ from which the car manufacturer can draw experience.
“Innovations, for example in the field of batteries, software or autonomous driving, are created here pragmatically and cost-effectively, with great creativity and great speed”, Blume said in an interview with the newspaper Die Zeit. “We can use this know-how and this approach to transfer it to the entire Volkswagen Group, especially in Germany, where we enjoyed our previous success for too long“, he stressed.
At the same time, Volkswagen's CEO denied the need to protect the European car market from Chinese imports “only through tariffs“. “In general, we need to talk about reasonable tariff formation“, Blum said. For example, they could be linked to investment incentives.
Earlier, Bloombergreportedthat European carmakers risk losing out to American and Chinese competitors in the global race for the future of the automotive industry due to lagging behind in the production of electric vehicles. On September 8, 2024 Blume expressed the opinionthat the entire European automotive industry is in an extremely difficult situation, the likes of which have never happened before. According to him, fewer and fewer cars are being sold in Europe, and new competitors from Asia are rapidly entering the market.