China is following a very clear strategy with its cars: flood Europe. And is doing it with both factories on the continent and Large ships that bring thousands of cars from China. Are Battery leaders and The electric car is its avant -gardebut we must not forget Your combustion models. There are more and more models And there are those who think that this wild competition can be what leads to the failure of many companies. To the point that only a handful of them will be short -term.
Specifically … five. At least, according to the CEO of The promising xpeng.
Spearheads. The proper names of the Chinese car are, now, well known. There are brands like Byd, Omoda either Mg that are increasingly seen in European streets. They are following strategies to Live with big fish In a very competitive market, expanding dealer networks, manufacturing in Europestriving to Understand the European user and associating with brands like Stellantis To create strategic relationships.
To those that are already here you can add other proper names of great weight, such as a Xiaomi whose models are awakening so much interest that the brand has turned its main factory into A kind of amusement park.
Increasingly. There are more that they have a smaller portion of the cake at the moment, but they have ambition. Xpeng landed in Spain in 2024 And it has been reaching other markets such as the United Kingdom. Its intention is to be present in 60 countries by the end of this year, concessionaires included, and there are still other names that are yet to come.
Chery (owner of Ebro, Omoda and Jaecoo), is preparing the landing of a new brand, LEPASand outside the automotive segment, we have brands like Dreame (manufacturers of vacuum cleaners and Pool cleaning robots) that too They have interest In this market with the aim of competing … against the Bugatti Veyron.
Only five will remain. And in this panorama in which there are more and more brands of Chinese cars, either for having many models or because they get into the car due to the government impulse, a controversial statement of he Xiaopeng enters. This is the CEO of the aforementioned Xpeng and, in a recent Pódcast, commented that the Chinese automotive sector has entered a elimination phase.
Their comments are radical, stating that “no Chinese manufacturer is safe from a elimination round that will reach its end in five years and in which only five brands will remain.” The reasons are the same as not so much They hit the solar panel industry in China. After flood West With its technology, A bestial price war caused sellers to have to operate at losses and do the logical: manufacture less.
There are brands like Byd that were profitable, but others depend on reaching a certain scale to survive and there are already analysts that estimate that, although state aid They promoted initial sales, withdrawal of incentives to consumers will impact a very fragmented market.
It is not a crazy idea. Alixpartners is a consultant who coincides with the predictions of He Xiaopeng, pointing That the number of viable brands of electric and hybrids will exceed the current 129 to just 15 from 2030, with only a few giants dominating the market. It is something that would take brands like children, which has sought to differentiate (even creating mobiles to complete the experience of their cars), but has suffered financial and capacity problems.
And you don’t have to go to China to be catastrophic. Ola Källenius is Mercedes-Benz’s CEO already described last year The current market as “a Darwinian price war” in which many of the current actors will disappear in five years. The Keys of analysts for a brand to survive? Manufacturing capacity, scale to other markets and battery leadership.
Images | Byd, xpeng
In Xataka | Byd did not go to the Shanghai Auto Salon to show cars. Went to exhibit power
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