According to Deutsche Welle, the prospects for the German automotive industry in the coming year are not at all bright. Ferdinand Dudenhofer, head of the CAR Center for Automotive Research in Duisburg, speaks of a “disappointing picture” in the automotive market at a pan-European level. A German expert attributes the large number of existing orders for new cars to accumulated supply chain problems and shortages of semiconductors or other components. The head of the research center sees a decline in car sales in Europe. With the exception of Germany, where sales are expected to rise slightly in 2023, sales will decline in countries such as France, England, Italy and Spain. However, according to a German expert, sales in Asia and North America will increase as both China and the US rely on subsidies to stimulate the market. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which focuses on subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles and renewable energy, US President Joe Biden is starting investments of around 430 billion euros in green energy over the next decade. Among other things, the US government is promising electric car buyers up to $7,500 in tax credits if the cars are assembled in the US.

China’s Human Horizons and HiPhi X models are showing strong sales, outperforming rivals BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

According to Deutsche Welle, everything indicates that Washington wants to protect the domestic market from Chinese imports with this law. The German Banking Federation, however, believes the law in question is “vague” enough not to exclude other manufacturing countries, such as Germany, whose automakers will be forced to build additional manufacturing capacity on American soil to benefit them. y from the subsidy program. In recent years, sales of electric vehicles in Germany have experienced an unprecedented boom, since since June 2000 electric vehicles have been subsidized by a total of 9,000 euros and plug-in hybrids by 6,750 euros. According to CAR data cited by DW, by the end of 2022, about 28% of vehicles on German roads will be electric. From January 2023, the German government is drastically cutting subsidies. In addition, the price of electricity is rising sharply, with the result that experts expect a significant decline in sales of electric vehicles in Germany in the new year.

At the same time, the German auto industry is facing stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers in the world’s largest automotive market, China. According to DW, in the Chinese market, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have 30% of their vehicles, while VW’s share exceeds 40%. Financial newspaper Handelsblatt notes that Chinese startup Human Horizons vehicles and the HiPhi X model are showing significant sales, leaving competitors BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which until recently dominated luxury car sales, behind. The competition for the Germans in the Chinese market is also fierce from other domestic manufacturers such as BYD, GAC, Li Auto and Nio. Even German engineers who have studied Chinese cars confirm their good quality and competitive prices.