Selling Chinese cars in Europe? They are very well, thank you
Chinese cars? They are not reliable and when it comes to passive safety. They also lack equipment and assembly quality. But that was before. Especially in front of Volvo. When the Geely concern bought the Swede from American Ford in 2009, in a few years he became the ambassador of his country and its competitors, proving to the whole world that a Chinese manufacturer was able to produce not only reliable cars , but also Premium cars that can compete with the German trio (Audi-BMW-Mercedes).
Ten years have passed and other brands, much less premium, have landed. Initially timid arrivals, but gradually establishing themselves in the European automotive landscape. How much do these cars from China cost? The company Inovev, which specializes in car statistics, has investigated the matter. And the results of the study he just presented are either astounding or frightening for European manufacturers.
Sales almost doubled every year
In 2018, when the first Middle Kingdom cars were duly homologated and sold in the old continent, only 9,000 were sold, apart from the fact that their number has continued to grow since then, from 14,000 in 2019 to 30,000 in 2020. Still not enough to whip a cat or a Pekingese, having sold an average of 15 million cars in Europe before the Covid.
We can therefore consider the Chinese score as completely marginal. Except that if you look at the growth curve of vintage car sales, it turns out that it is doubling every year. In 2021, when European manufacturers began to suffer, they found 80,000 buyers. And this year, in the first 6 months, they have already reached the figure of 75,000, giving hope to the Chinese groups present in Europe to reach 150,000 sales without forcing themselves.
lack of parts? I do not know
The secret of the success of MG, Aiways and soon Byd, who will present their “European” model at the end of the summer? An obsession with electric cars that gives them easy access to batteries made in China and microprocessors made in the same place. Gone are the days when Europe tried to contain Chinese cars by refusing to homologate them under the pretext of their dangerousness in crash tests. Today, the new cars easily pass the entrance test, and they are even about to pass another test easily: that of conquering the wallets of consumers on the old continent with attractive prices. Customers with an iPhone in their pocket, also made in China, recognize that the products made in China can be as good as these.
