中華人民共和國 / 中华人民共和国, the second largest economic power in the world and with almost 1.4 billion inhabitants the most important growth market in the world for the automotive industry. Quite a few automobile experts agree: The future of the automobile will be decided here in the “Land of Dawn”. The automobile may also have been born in Europe, which will change the industry for the next few years, but has its reason more in the “people of billions” and the apparently unstoppable growth of the economic power China. The presence of the premium manufacturers here in China is all the more important. The Shanghai Auto Show will thus also become the setting for the world premiere of the massive Facelifts the new S-Class, There's a good reason for that, because their buyers are nowhere younger than here in China. China's S-Class buyers are often "first-time" Mercedes-Benz customers. The traditional brand from Swabia sells splendidly, without traditional customers. The model still works.
Still the "old world" determines the direction of the automobile industry, the taste of the Chinese often serves only as a lazy breeze in the storm of the changes. And yet, when a manufacturer such as Mercedes-Benz founds its very own "Hippie Commune in the Vatican City", a rapid reaction force sets up its own program for disruption as with the program CASE happen - then China also determines the specifications here. Networking. Autonomous driving. Sharing and electrification. No business nation can be expected to do more change than the people in the fourth largest country (in terms of area) of the world.
So far, it has been the big automakers of the "old world" who set the direction and speed, which is changing massively. We are still laughing.
But the wind gets stronger. In addition to the wishes and needs of Chinese customers, the economic environment in China is developing faster and more programmatically than elsewhere. The Chinese government must respond to the massive changes in its mega-cities. The claims are rising. Security, emissions and production standards, nowhere else in the world is legislation more harsh and unpredictable. In cities like Shanghai or Beijing, the stinking two-stroke mopeds were banned almost overnight. E-mobility determines the everyday life in the field of mobility today, considering only the bicycles and tricycles.
And a tour of the important automobile fair in Shanghai 2017 gives an impression of the future requirements that German automobile manufacturers will also have to face.
Electromobility, design and equipment requirements - China determines the direction and it is still the premium manufacturers of the old world that lead the market. But never before has an automobile trade fair in China shown more clearly that pressure is increasing.
We are still laughing at automobile manufacturers from China that no western journalist knows. Laughing at handicraft stalls that you wouldn't dare to use in front of a specialist audience in Germany. We are amazed at brazen copies, at clearly imitated design samples. And while you flew home from the fair in the last few years, because what was written by the completely unknown manufacturers was simply too ridiculous to threaten an industry that had been established for centuries, that's changing now. The 2017 Auto Shanghai was very clear in the message. We are still laughing at gaps that are not measured in millimeters or centimeters - we are amazed at the maximum lovelessness with which sheet metal was processed and hold our noses in order not to be overwhelmed by the foul vapors of the cheap plastic interiors.
We still laugh about names that can not be pronounced, about fantasy coats of arms and look rather anxious towards the west. The Silicon Valley and the tech companies based there, they were clearly identified as the source of the overwhelming threat of disruption. However, Shanghai 2017 has left a different impression.
The laughter, it should pass us faster than people thought a few years ago. Because the craft booths disappear. The automotive industry in China is learning quickly and is using the regulatory advantages in its own economic environment. Because no automobile manufacturer can be represented in the most important future market without a partner from China. No matter whether BAIC (Daimler and Hyundai), FAW (Volkswagen, Toyota, Mazda) or SAIC (GM, Volkswagen, Volvo) - Each of these major manufacturers from China learns from one or - worse - from several of the major global players in the automotive industry.
And China is learning fast. An almost irrepressible manpower meets an ambition that old Europe probably only knew from the economic boom. 27-year-old PhD students who are fluent in English, German and their mother tongue. Union-free hours. The maximum will to succeed. Paired with the experience, the know-how and the competence from the "old world of automobile construction". A mixture that could have a stronger influence on the German automotive industry than the often felt danger of disruption from Silicon Valley.
Manufacturers such as SAIC have just announced that the rights to the MG models Rover 2005 and Rover 75 bought in 25 will now be brought back to the European market as an automobile brand. The MG models - after failed negotiations - called Roewe will come back to Europe as "MG". But not the "old models". But the result of the last 10 years of apprenticeship. And under the Roewe brand, SAIC is showing SUV models that look astonishingly ready for series production. With an acceptable level of workmanship. With networking options and an interior that is clearly tailored to the needs of multi-smartphone users.
Powered by plug-in hybrid technology.
Manufacturers such as WEY, a “premium brand” of the “Great Wall Group”, present western design with their own touch. Here too, the plug-in hybrid SUV is at the forefront. The requirements of the Chinese government are clear: zero emissions in the mega-cities. The wishes of car buyers? Status and SUV. As the “old world”, we still benefit from our lead. But if we don't react very quickly now, rethink our own processes and take more account of the market and its specifications, then some automobile manufacturers could go laughing.
It is not the discussion about diesel driving bans in German inner cities that is affecting our economy - as automotive journalist blogger Whatever I call the automotive industry "our economy" - threatened. It is also no longer a question of whether TESLA has created a great luxury product and whether Google is getting into the mobility business. The only question is how long we will continue to laugh. Laugh at the Chinese efforts. China is learning faster than you could imagine. A Borgward, a Lynk, a WEY - who asks the question of tradition if he can afford status and competence for new price brands? A plug-in hybrid family SUV for less than € 30.000? A fully electrified range of models? Networking, zero emissions and autonomy - the key words for the future. And our benchmark will be in the east. We're still laughing. Yet.
