【Reporter Connection】

　　In Germany, the old car manufacturing kingdom, people's consumption habits of cars are quietly changing.

Although Germany has many brand-name internal combustion engine vehicles, the enthusiasm of Germans for new energy vehicles has increased significantly.

Hot sale of new energy vehicles

　　The Flensburg-based Federal Motor Transport Authority announced not long ago that new energy vehicles accounted for a further increase in the proportion of new cars registered in Germany in the first seven months of this year.

Among the newly registered vehicles, pure electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for 44.2%, an increase of 13% compared with the same period in 2021.

During this period, the sales of pure electric vehicles increased by a strong 27.1%.

According to reports, in Germany, a country with famous car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, the most popular electric car is currently a small pure electric car "Fiat e500" from Italian brand Fiat.

In July, the small car topped the Federal Motor Transportation Administration's all-electric vehicle registration tally with 2,170 registrations.

　　Although people's demand for new energy vehicles is increasing, the current production cannot keep up.

According to the "Daily Mirror" published in Berlin, people who want to buy their favorite new car still need to be patient.

It's still a seven- to nine-month wait to get the aforementioned Fiat electric car, for which Fiat has suspended pre-orders for the car.

Car portal Carwow also had to suspend bookings for nearly 50 electric models at home and abroad as production could not keep up.

Manufacturers such as Volkswagen have to explain the reasons in detail on their websites in order to appease customers.

There are many reasons for the lack of supply. The main reason is that the supply of parts and components cannot keep up, especially the lack of semiconductors, because electric vehicles require more chips than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

　　From 2023, Germany will reduce subsidies for pure electric vehicles and eliminate subsidies for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Despite this, Germans' enthusiasm for new energy vehicles remains high, and most potential car buyers have not lost interest in electric vehicles, according to a survey commissioned by the Daily Mirror.

According to an analysis by the Center for Automotive Research, it took an average of 21.3 months to order a new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in June, but 58 percent of respondents did not give up their purchase due to longer delivery times, but chose to wait.

Many customers would rather give up some configurations or increase related costs in order to obtain new energy vehicles as soon as possible.

Chinese EVs 'overtaking' in the market

　　In this situation, Chinese electric vehicles are also targeting the German market.

The German media "Capital" reported that this autumn, the Chinese brand BYD electric vehicles will go ashore through an agent in Bremerhaven.

The revolution in the German car market began quietly.

　　The article said that economically, the BYD brand is driving in the overtaking lane, and there are two sets of figures that clearly prove this point of view.

One is 300%, which is the growth rate of the Chinese car sales in the first half of 2022 in the absence of chips and the supply chain being affected.

BYD sold more than 641,000 new cars during the period, nearly 80,000 more than Tesla, widely considered the so-called best-in-class.

The second is $9 billion, which is the current value of BYD shares that Buffett bought for $235 million in 2008.

The article argues that the BYD brand is now worth more than Germany's Volkswagen on the stock exchange and has left the German group behind in China's electric vehicle market.

　　The article also attributes BYD's success to its extensive layout.

BYD, which originally only produced batteries for mobile phones and MP3 players, did not begin to diversify its operations until 2003, and began to develop electric vehicles.

Unlike many of its competitors, BYD takes the security of its raw material supply chain very seriously.

Although batteries have gotten cheaper over the years, they still make up about a third of the cost of an electric vehicle.

Therefore, BYD has a huge cost advantage.

BYD's success in both batteries and electric vehicles has made BYD one of the world's largest battery manufacturers and new energy vehicle manufacturers.

In China, EV makers have to recycle used batteries, and BYD is currently the only automaker to open a recycling plant.

Not only does the company have its own battery factory, it also owns lithium mining rights in Chile since the beginning of the year.

In Africa, the brand is expected to acquire six more mines.

BYD's batteries are also cobalt-free, so mining and production are smooth and the final product is of a very high standard.

　　After BYD, China's Great Wall Group also announced that it will bring some models to Europe this year, and has established a cooperative relationship with one of Germany's largest auto dealers, the Emil Frey Group, according to the German "Handsblatt".

It is understood that many new energy vehicles such as BYD, Great Wall, Xiaopeng and Weilai will soon enter the German market.

　　The media here reacted differently to Chinese cars entering the German market.

Some media believe that in order for Chinese cars to gain a foothold in the German market, they must segment the market instead of just making quick money with cheap models.

In China, these automakers have long dominated the domestic market.

Currently among the best-selling electric cars in China, there is little competition from foreign models.

But developing a foreign market will face fierce competition from local cars, and it will not happen overnight.

Many well-known car brands in Japan and South Korea have previously suffered failures in developing the German market.

Therefore, some media pointed out that the Germans should not be overly nervous about the arrival of Chinese cars.

　　An industry insider told this reporter that there are many brands of Chinese cars coming from Germany, which will make ordinary consumers a little dazzled and affect people's overall awareness of Chinese cars, which still needs to be integrated through the market.

Fortunately, Chinese car companies such as BYD are still cautious about expanding overseas markets.

In September this year, the 6th China-Germany Automobile Conference, co-hosted by the Investment Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Public Enterprises of the Berlin Senate, will be held offline in Berlin and online with cities in China and other places. The docking will be held at the same time, and it is believed that the meeting will involve some hot issues currently facing.

　(Berlin, August 26, by our reporter Wang Huaicheng in Berlin)