here is the last chance solution to counter China

Europe is playing a dangerous game, which still does not know whether or not it will ban thermal engine vehicles from 2035. The industry hates that. While we procrastinate, China no longer asks questions. It also stopped asking questions at the beginning of the 2000s when national brands, largely subsidized by the State, were developing their first generations of electric vehicles. Since then, the start-up has been a forced march: the entire industrial ecosystem around the electric vehicle has quickly been put in place. Refineries, cell production factories, control over metals, China has bet everything on a single pawn. With the risks that this may entail if a new “miracle” technical solution other than batteries emerges in the future. But China's strategy has at least one merit: it gives companies very long-term visibility. What our major European automobile manufacturers do not have. And this is bearing fruit, since for the first time in its history, the Chinese new vehicle market was made up of more than 50% plug-in vehicles in October, whether hybrid or 100% electric. Remember that China is the largest auto market in the world…

Europe reacts as best it can

The Old Continent now seems to realize that it will probably not be able to catch up with electric vehicles. The Chinese advance is too great and the protectionist measures voted recently, with the increase in customs fees, are more palliative than curative. So what to do?

The solution could come from… Chinese inspiration. Brussels is in fact working on a “deal” that is surprising to say the least: forcing Chinese companies that want to establish themselves in Europe with factories to transfer technology. In other words, authorize them to produce here in exchange for crucial information on battery production, chemistries and on-board technologies. The roles are exchanged: 40 years ago, it was China which imposed the creation of joint ventures with Chinese brands for European automobile groups wishing to set up in the Middle Kingdom.

“Wondering in passing where the technological excellence of which Europe continues to boast has gone, we can only meditate on the famous Chinese proverb according to which the idiot looks at the finger when the wise man points at the moon. While the Peugeot and other VWs were delighted to sell their old models, the Chinese dragon was quietly preparing the energy transition“, comments our Swiss colleague from Le Temps.

Trump’s pressure

Is Europe just a pawn in the middle of the trade war between the United States and China? We are right to ask the question, as people close to Donald Trump allegedly told the Financial Times that the American president was going to put pressure on Europe to further increase customs taxes and import obstacles. of Chinese products. “If we want to play Donald Trump's game on some aspects of his agenda, we have to decide what to do about China”admits a European diplomat. This says a lot about the weapons available to Europe, which seems helpless on the industrial levelwhile thousands of jobs are threatened at automotive equipment manufacturers. And China, which now sees the American path blocked, could just be tempted to fall back massively on Europe. A situation that Donald Trump is precisely seeking to avoid, by trying to remotely guide Brussels.