Chinese electric vehicles gain prestige in Europe

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that from January to July this year, China exported 636,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs), an increase of 150 percent from the previous year. According to French car consultancy Inovev, Chinese cars represent 8% of all new EVs sold in Europe this year, marking a steady increase of 6% year-on-year and 4% in 2021.

Recognizing the benefits of Chinese car manufacturers, such as rapid technological innovation and software development, in addition to the rapid entry into the electric vehicle sector, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the CAR Center Automotive Research Duisburg, based in Germany, considered that “in the next five In ten years, many Chinese electric vehicles and new energy vehicles will be on Europe’s roads.”

While gradually gaining consumer recognition in Europe, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are devising their own approaches to establishing local partnerships and business networks.

Since October 2022, BYD has partnered with the company Louwman Group to launch dealerships in the Netherlands. To date, they have effectively delivered more than 700 BYD electric cars, with two showrooms operating in the country’s two largest cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and an additional one under construction in Eindhoven, a center for high technology and design.

For Louwman president Eric Louwman, BYD should be defined not just as a Chinese brand, but as a global player with a high level of technology, good quality and the support of services from a local partner.

Another Chinese electric vehicle startup, NIO, adopted a different strategy, direct to the customer, without going through intermediary retailers. Naturally, generating customer interest and creating sellable resources is very relevant for the startup. “If you want to become a large automobile company, the European market is a challenge you cannot escape,” Chen Chen, managing director of European business development at NIO, told Xinhua. “But the market in Europe is very different from what is in China.”