As the Chinese economy gets better, more and more Chinese are looking for quality cars. Among car manufacturers, German automakers have been looking for markets to sell their products. One of the biggest markets they are looking at for a resurgence in China, NY Times relays.
Beijing hasn't really been silent about its wishes, so to speak. With a drive toward electric cars and driverless technology, the government is rapidly creating laws that govern the use of these vehicles on the road. It seems most of the vehicles on its roads as electric-hybrids or high-tech cars as part of its push toward a 2025 plan dubbed 'Made in China.'
BMW is leading the way for German automakers planning to make a splash in the Chinese market. The plant in China is preparing to boost production by 50 percent-enough to produce 450,000 vehicles a year, in a bid to become the main automobile maker among German brands.
China is making BMW's job easier. According to Financial Times, China is among BMW's biggest markets-about 22 percent of its profits come from the country. It is looking at China to help its push globally too. Currently, the global leader in car sales is fellow German automaker Mercedes-Benz, which solidified its position last 2017.
BMW's forecast for this year in China has been promising. In the middle of this year, it has already overtaken fellow automaker, Audi.
This, however, is just a small victory toward an even bigger undertaking.
The German automakers are up against another global power in automobile sales-the US. However, the tilt of the financial scales is in favor of Germany, even as the US is locked in an ugly feud with China over trade tariffs.
China can certainly hope that the German shift will be beneficial for them. Their push for driverless, electric-car powered highways is a step closer to realizing their vision-becoming a high-tech utopia rivaled by none.
Tesla is certainly answering that call. The embattled automaker has already made plans to put up a plant in Shanghai, and it also looks to deliver about 500,000 vehicles a year from the assembly lines of the said plan. That remains to be seen, however, with the Trump administration carefully keeping tariff impositions lopsided in the US' favor.
