German car manufacturers are losing more and more market share to domestic manufacturers in the Chinese electric car market.
In order to remain competitive, German suppliers such as Bosch, ZF and Vitesco work with Chinese car manufacturers and supply them with car parts.
“One of our main growth drivers is business with Chinese automakers,” says a Bosch manager in one “Handelsblatt” report.
For decades, Volkswagen has been at the forefront of the world‘s largest electric car market in China. In the first quarter of 2023, however, the Chinese automaker BYD rose and dethroned the German automaker.
But: According to a report by the “Handelsblatt‘ provided by German companies for the Chinese cars. The German tech company ZF is supplying the Chinese car manufacturer Nio with a fully electric steering system. Bosch, on the other hand, builds electric motors for Nio and traction motors for Hiphi. Vitesco supplies battery management systems to Hiphi and drive control units to Zeekr.
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Business with Chinese automakers is “one of our main growth drivers”
“Chinese manufacturers now account for 40 percent of our sales in China,” comments Holger Klein, ZF CEO. Klein says German suppliers would “probably no longer be globally competitive” without working with Chinese automakers, which sell large volumes.
With 14.6 billion euros, according to the “Handelsblatt”, Bosch makes around 28 percent of its total sales in the mobility division in China – the largest part of this sales comes from the cooperation with the Chinese electric car manufacturers. Xu Daquan, Bosch’s Mobility boss in China, emphasizes that business with Chinese car manufacturers is “one of our main growth drivers”.
AA