Building plants
Manufacturers aren’t waiting around for the full picture on tariffs to emerge. SAIC is in talks with the Spanish government about where to build its first production site in Europe, newspaper Expansion reported on July 12.
Volvo Car AB, the Swedish carmaker owned by Geely, has accelerated plans to build its new EX30 model in an existing plant in Ghent, Belgium, in addition to its factory in China.
This summer, Leapmotor began assembly of the all-electric T03 in Tychy, Poland, at a manufacturing site owned by Stellantis — just six months after they announced the partnership. Using semi-knocked down kits, Leapmotor will provide EVs that can be assembled at any Stellantis plant worldwide, the latter firm has said.
Cars assembled from kits sent to Poland will generate gross profit of about €3,200 per car, Jefferies analysts led by Xiaoyi Lei said in a June 17 research note. That shrinks to about €1,000 for imported vehicles under the estimated impact of the new tariffs.
In an added benefit to the region, localizing production in Europe “can attract car parts makers,” said Ganyi Zhang, market analyst with Upply, a digital logistics platform.
There’s plenty more scope for partnerships in the face of cost pressures including the EU tariffs, Citigroup analyst Harald Hendrikse said in an interview. “All the Europeans will be making some sort of Chinese car soon, whether in China or in Europe.”
Rebranding questions
In Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s government is courting Chinese manufacturers, though some of the biggest carmakers in the country have conflicted feelings about the possibility of increased competition in their home turf.
Industry Minister Adolfo Urso traveled to China recently, meeting with EV makers Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group and Dongfeng Motor Group Co.
Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares, despite the firm’s tip-up with Leapmotor, has repeatedly raised concerns about Chinese firms expanding. “All European governments are dating Chinese car makers to come to assemble their vehicles in their countries,” Tavares said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday. “Italy, France, Germany, Spain, they are all dating the Chinese. We are here for the fight.”
In June, Italy’s antitrust authority fined DR Automobiles €6 million after determining it had illegally labeled vehicles from Chinese manufacturers including Chery as Italian-made. DR has said it planned to appeal, and that vehicles are only 60-70% pre-assembled in China.
“It’s logical that countries like Italy are worried about preserving jobs and monitoring closely what is happening in their home market,” said Alexandre Marian, partner and managing director at AlixPartners.
But Marian still expects Chinese firms to continue expanding in Europe, potentially by acquiring plants that local manufacturers want to close or sell.
“Chinese manufacturers are extremely determined,” he said. “They always find a way around a problem and once they’ve fixed a target, they find a way to make that target.”
Source link : https://www.autoblog.com/2024/07/27/china-built-in-europe-evs/
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Publish date : 2024-07-27 17:00:00
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