(Munich) Tesla and Chinese car manufacturers are stealing the show from the Europeans at the Munich Motor Show (IAA), one of the largest in the world, which began on Monday in a gloomy economic context.
The traditional meeting of the European automotive sector will be officially opened on Tuesday by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. However, manufacturers are taking advantage of Monday’s press day to unveil new models.
But among the groups of the Old Continent, only the German manufacturers Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes – long national pride, but today weakened – are present in force.
BMW has already presented on Saturday its “Neue Klasse” (New Class) concept grouping six electric cars manufactured from 2025, to meet the anticipated increase in demand with the end of combustion engines in Europe in 2035.
On the French side, Stellantis is only represented by its German brand Opel and the Renault group only by the eponymous brand, to unveil its new Scenic.
It is, on the contrary, the foreign brands that impose themselves: Tesla will be back on the show after ten years of absence, and even more so the Chinese competition.
It “launches its assault on Europe” with the show, summarizes Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, expert from the Center Automotive Research in Germany.
BYD, Leapmotor, Dongfeng, Geely… among the exhibitors, 41% are headquartered in China. They threaten the dominant position of European manufacturers in the strategic market for electric models.
Their advantage is to offer models at significantly lower prices, while entry-level electric cars are still rare.
To “be able to compete with India and China”, Mercedes boss Ola Källenius urged on Sunday not to “aggravate” the state of European competitiveness by fueling claims, strong among German trade unions, on the introduction of a four-day week.
Added to this are the difficulties of European producers in China. In electrics, Volkswagen, the thermal market leader, represented only 3.1% of the market last year, far behind Chinese brands such as BYD (18%) and the American Tesla with (8.7%).
“Forecasts anticipate that international groups will lose market share to locals and Tesla,” notes Eric Kirstetter, senior partner at consulting firm Roland Berger.
Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume said on Sunday evening he was “impressed” by the “speed” of automotive technological development in China, and described it as “crucial” for the group to “succeed in the transformation towards electric “.
According to researcher Stefan Bratzel’s Automotive Innovation Barometer, published on Friday, “Chinese manufacturers were in 2022 for the first time since the start of the study in 2005 more innovative than German groups”.
Traditional manufacturers are at the same time under pressure in the face of the economic slowdown in their historic market. It threatens the insolent profits they have made since the end of the health crisis, taking advantage of inflation to inflate margins.
Because although car sales in the European Union (EU) have increased over the past twelve months, they remain more than 20% below their 2019 level.
In addition, the show should be marked, like the 2021 edition, by environmental protest.
From dawn on Monday, a handful of Greenpeace activists installed wrecked cars in the lake in front of the main entrance to the exhibition center.
“The auto industry continues to bet on too many, and too big, cars, and is sinking the planet with this economic model,” Marissa Reiserer, spokesperson for the NGO, told AFP.
Several groups announced “actions of civil disobedience” throughout the week; and some 1,500 people are expected at the “mobility revolution camp” in a park on the outskirts of Munich.
In total, 700,000 visitors are expected at the IAA, compared to 410,000 in 2021, on the stands distributed between the convention center, which is paying, and the city center, where free entertainment will be offered around cars… but also bicycles.
Renamed IAA Mobility in 2021, when the motor show moved from Frankfurt to Munich, the organizers want to highlight “mobility, sustainability and technology”.