Audi CEO Markus Duesmann met with Chinese partners China Faw Group and Saic Motor to discuss ways to boost sales of electric vehicles in the world’s largest automotive market. Bloomberg reports that Audi’s commitment is “fundamental not only for the Volkswagen group but also as a test of Germany’s ability to deal with threats to its competitiveness”.
“The transition to electric vehicles in China is naturally a challenge for us,” Duesmann said in an interview reported by Bloomberg. “We have not entered the electric vehicle market as we would have liked – he adds -.
Before, China was moving very fast and we, as a society, have not observed closely what is happening. It’s like when you watch a marathon race and turn around for 30 seconds and then the race is somewhere else entirely. So it was for China.”
In an effort to catch up, Audi is building an electric vehicle plant in Chengchun and has already launched a few models. Audi’s deliveries in China plunged 8.4% to 643,000 vehicles in 2022 but still account for 40% of its global sales.
The European Union must “find the right answers to maintain industrial competitiveness and avoid falling behind in these changes”, adds the top manager of Audi. Huge things are happening in China and the United States and we can’t look away.
Otherwise, the marathon runners will have turned the corner and we won’t see them again.”
Source: Ansa
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