China’s reaction to the EU by Mercedes CEO
Mercedes reacted to the investigation launched by the European Union into China’s subsidies for electric vehicles.
The top executive of Mercedes-Benz Group AG said he sees the measures being taken as a risk to healthy competition and global automotive supply chains.
‘DO NOT INTERFERE IN THE MARKET’
“Open markets are what drives growth and wealth creation,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York. “Let’s keep markets open and let market participants fight,” he said.
The European Union launched an investigation into China’s subsidies for electric vehicles early last week, exacerbating growing industrial and geopolitical competition between the two economies.
PLANT RESEARCH CONCERNS
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said in an interview with Bloomberg on Sunday that the EU should reduce its dependence on China, adding that she supported the investigation.
The European investigation, scheduled for about nine months, could ultimately lead to import duties on Chinese vehicles, drawing harsh condemnation from Beijing. There are also concerns about retaliation for trade restrictions.
Commenting on the topic, Källenius said: “We learned that supply chains can be fragile during the pandemic.” Källenius stated that Mercedes cars are based on components sourced from all five production continents: “It would be completely illusory to think that we can divide the automotive world into separate regions that have nothing to do with each other.”
China is Mercedes-Benz’s biggest market, along with Volkswagen and BMW, and about a third of its sales are made there. On the other hand, in China, the world’s largest automobile market, customers are increasingly choosing domestic brands such as BYD and Nio to purchase electric vehicles that better suit local needs.
PARTNERS WITH THE CHINESE
In previous years, the automobile giant signed very important partnership agreements with Chinese companies, and some of the company’s shares were acquired by these companies.
In recent years, 5 percent of the shares of Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, were bought by China’s Beijing Automotive and 10 percent by another Chinese automotive company, Geely. Chinese companies currently control about 15 percent of the German automaker.
Source: Sozcu
Carla Rue is an author and automobile journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a deep passion for cars and a talent for analyzing the latest developments in the world of automobiles.
