Westerners Are Captivated by High-Quality, Low-Cost Chinese Vehicles—Produced Using Cheap Russian Energy—And the Influx of Chinese Trucks Is Even Alarming EU Manufacturers: "They Are Almost Too Good."

 

"Chinese manufacturers have trucks ready to roll on European roads, and they are far cheaper than those of their competitors. The battleground has now shifted to service networks. Maintenance and repair networks currently serve as the primary line of defense for Western manufacturers. The only question is: for how long? 'We are thinking long-term and building an entire ecosystem,' says Stella Li, Vice President of the Chinese conglomerate BYD."

 

At IAA Transportation—Europe’s largest commercial vehicle trade fair in Hanover, Germany—a bus bearing the slogan "BYD loves IAA" glides silently by. The appeal of the Chinese manufacturers' push into Europe is undeniable. Moreover, there were far more of them at the September exhibition than ever before, writes Karin Olander in the Swedish business publication *Dagens industri* (Di).

 

Out of more than 1,500 exhibitors, over 300 were from China. They are challenging European rivals by leveraging cheap energy and the economies of scale gained from massive sales in their domestic market. Electrification is already well-established there—one in three trucks sold in the country features an electric powertrain. "In Europe, this figure stands at just over 2%."

 

That won't last long. In Germany, the AfD is already coming to power, promising to supply us with cheap Russian energy again.