The car industry in China is one of the most prosperous in the world and it could only be a matter of time before Chinese models start appearing in Europe. China is the largest new car market in the world, with 28.8 million vehicles being sold in the country in 2017. Leaders at Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen predict that this will happen soon.
Jurgen Stackmann, director of sales and marketing at Volkswagen, gave his opinion. “You will see cars from us in the next two years that will only be sold in China, but people elsewhere will also want them. The market size allows us to come up with larger sub-segmentation compared to regions like Europe, and we are looking at bringing cars from China into Europe.”
Jaguar Land Rover technical director Dr Wolfgang Zeibart said “there’s a very high chance China will be able to export its cars outside of the country – there is no reason why not. The market is growing too fast for it to happen now, but in the future I can see it. Production costs are lower and so are the components, and the quality is very good.”
The first Chinese car brand to make it to Europe is thought to be Lynk & Co. The company is owned by the Chinese conglomerate Geely, along with Volvo and Lotus. Cars are set to arrive in the UK in 2020.
Instead of being imported from the factory in Zhangjiakou, China, the European models will be produced at the Volvo plant in Ghent. A spokesperson for Geely said “Zhejiang Geely Holding Group subsidiary factories are all built to Volvo Cars’ leading standards (or in case of Luqiao factory, directly managed by Volvo) and thus are capable of producing cars to global standards.”
When Chinese cars do arrive in Europe, it will create more diversity in the industry. There’s a chance the cars could become popular due to the unique style.
