By LIU Jiaxin
Germany's international car show opened in Munich on Tuesday, a pale shadow of its former gas-guzzling self.
The event dates back to 1897, but, in recent years, traditional automotive giants have been keeping away. It's an opportunity for Chinese car companies to shine.
German powerhouses Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW brazenly reaffirmed their commitment to the industry’s electric future, but are deeply concerned about competition from China, while at the same time desperately counting on almost any Chinese startup that may offer a helping hand with technology. Germany lags far behind China in EV development in almost every regard.
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said the European Union’s coming ban on internal combustion engine cars has put him in direct competition with China. Traditional brands will struggle, especially those priced below 300,000 yuan (about US,040), so luxury brands like BMW have a little less to worry about.
Volkswagen's Herbert Diess said Volkswagen would be free from old-fashioned ICE cars, in Europe at least, by 2035.
Ola Kaellenius of Mercedes believes that production costs of electric vehicles will remain high out that as battery materials and software force up prices.
Renault is unable to participate in the ongoing price wars with Tesla and Chinese companies but hopes that, from a business perspective, maintaining a reasonable price range and adjusting fixed costs is a sound operational strategy.
