沃克斯豪爾老闆警告歐洲面臨中國廉價汽車“入侵”

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Europe faces Chinese cheap car ‘invasion’, Vauxhall owner warns

The Telegraph - Howard Mustoe

Wed, July 26, 2023 at 10:19 a.m. PDT

Vauxhall owner Stellantis has warned of a coming “invasion” of cheap Chinese cars as it pressures its suppliers to cut costs to compete.

The firm, which also owns Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep, will also use its heft to demand lower prices from partners as it tries to bring down the cost of electric cars.

Chief executive Carlos Tavares, who has been outspoken before on the high cost of battery-powered cars and the risk they pose to the mass ownership of cars, said suppliers should prepare to comb over their businesses and cut costs as he has done.

He said Stellantis faces a “brutal scenario” where it must compete with Chinese-made cars which are a quarter less expensive while having to invest billions into electrification. Mr Tavares told a French radio station that China’s export ambitions amounted to an “invasion”.

Chinese carmakers are targeting European markets including the UK with predominantly electric cars, undercutting companies like Volkswagen and Stellantis.

Big firms including Warren Buffett-backed BYD; Chery, which makes Land Rover models in China; and Great Wall through its Funky Cat brand plan to sell their cars in the UK.

Cheap labour costs and a much more mature supply chain for battery components in China puts the country at a distinct advantage.

Europe has plans for many gigafactories, but less than a dozen are up and running compared to more than a hundred in China. Beijing’s investments in lithium mining and refining also put it in an advantageous position, while European countries play catchup.

Still, Mr Tavares’ cost cutting efforts helped propel Stellantis profit for the first six months of the year to €10.9bn from €8bn a year ago and sales rose 12pc to €98bn.

Meanwhile, larger German rival Volkswagen announced a $700m investment in Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng in a bid to revive its sales fortunes in China.

Volkswagen brought car making to China and has long been the top seller in the country, but it has been losing market share in recent years to local upstarts.

Volkswagen wants the pair to develop two battery models by 2026. It also said its Audi brand would do a deal with SAIC, a state-owned carmaker to develop new models, with more details to be released in due course.

Translation

沃克斯豪爾（Vauxhall）所有者Stellantis警告說，廉價中國汽車即將“入侵”，因為它迫使供應商削減成本以進行競爭。

該公司還擁有標致、菲亞特和吉普車，該公司還將利用其影響力要求合作夥伴降低價格，試圖降低電動汽車的成本。

首席執行官Carlos Tavares 此前曾直言不諱地談到電動汽車的高成本, 及高成本對大眾能普遍地擁有汽車所構成的風險，他表示供應商應該像他一樣準備梳理業務並削減成本。

他表示，Stellantis 面臨著一個 “殘酷的局面” ，它必須與價格便宜四分之一的中國製造的汽車去競爭，同時還必須投資數十億美元用於電氣化。 Tavares先生對法國一家廣播電台表示，中國的出口野心相當於 “入侵” 。

中國汽車製造商瞄準了包括英國在內的歐洲市場，主要推出電動汽車，削弱了大眾汽車和 Stellantis 等公司。

包括沃倫·巴菲特支持的比亞迪在內的大公司； 奇瑞，在中國生產路虎車型； 長城汽車和長城汽車計劃通過其 Funky Cat 品牌在英國銷售汽車。

中國廉價的勞動力成本, 和更加成熟的電池零部件供應鏈使該國具有明顯的優勢。

歐洲計劃建設許多超級工廠，但建成並運行的只有不到十幾個，而中國有一百多個。 北京在鋰礦開採和精煉方面的投資也使其處於優勢地位，而歐洲國家正在迎頭趕上。

儘管如此，Tavares先生的成本削減舉措還是推動 Stellantis 今年前 6 個月的利潤從去年同期的 80 億歐元增至 109 億歐元，銷售額增長 12% 至 980 億歐元。

與此同時，規模更大的德國競爭對手大眾汽車宣布向中國電動汽車製造商小鵬汽車投資 7 億美元，以重振其在中國的銷售業績。

大眾汽車將汽車製造帶到了中國，長期以來一直是中國最暢銷的汽車，但近年來它的市場份額一直被本土新貴奪走。

大眾汽車希望兩家公司能夠在 2026 年之前開發出兩款電池車型。該公司還表示，旗下奧迪品牌將與國有汽車製造商SAIC達成協議，開發新車型，更多細節將在適當時候公佈。

So, Stellantis has warned of a coming “invasion” of cheap Chinese cars into Europe. Cheap labour costs and a much more mature supply chain for battery components in China puts the country at a distinct advantage. I am wondering whether Europeans countries will use tax barrier to stop the “invasion”.