Last year's sales figures spectacularly illustrate how much the German car industry depends on the economic wellbeing, or otherwise, of the Chinese market. All premium manufacturers had to accept declines in their total sales: Porsche and the Mercedes-Benz passenger car segment with 3% each, and the BMW Group with 4% managed to keep the decline reasonably limited. Audi performed significantly worse with a drop of almost 12%. What they all have in common is the loss of sales in China. Except for Mercedes-Benz (-7%), there was a steep downward trend of more than 10%. Porsche's performance in China was by far the worst, at minus 28%. The sports car company made gains in all other regions. China accounts for 18% of total sales. This figure rises from 29% for BMW to 34.5% for Mercedes-Benz, and even 39% for Audi.

The weakness in China has considerable consequences for sales, earnings and margins, with the country making the highest contributions to profitability. And German companies are not only continuing to lose market share there, but a relentless price war is also raging. Nevertheless, car sales (in the retail sector) still increased by 5.5% in China last year. For this year, the industry association PCA is only expecting a slight increase of 2%.

This means there is a considerable risk that the model offensives of German suppliers will come to nothing, at least in China. This is because a boom is only taking place there in the market for electric cars. The new energy vehicle segment (including hybrid and alternative drive systems) grew by an incredible 41% last year – fuelled by government subsidies for the purchase of these cars. For this year, the PCA is expecting a still-impressive 20% figure. So far, German manufacturers have missed out on this special boom.

In the case of Audi and Mercedes-Benz, this not only applies to China: Audi sold 8% fewer Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) last year, while its Stuttgart-based competitor sold 22% fewer.

BMW stands out with an increase of 13.5%. The Munich-based group is rapidly approaching a BEV share of 20% of total sales. BMW of all companies! Compared to its German competitors, the company has been and still is reluctant to set targets for e-mobility. The Board of Management has been in favour of technological openness since the beginning of the transformation. It is the better way.