Legacy Carmakers At Risk in China, Company Warns

Western car companies are under ever-increasing threat in China, and could be wiped out from the world’s biggest car market entirely.

Maxime Picat, the Chief Operating Officer in Asia-Pacific for Stellantis – the parent company of 14 automotive brands, including Alfa Romeo, Jeep, and Ram – has issued a dire warning about the outlook for legacy carmakers in China, the Financial Times reports.

While it’s reported China has more than 500 car brands currently, each of the more than 150 manufacturers has several subsidiary brands – such as GWM, which also sells cars under Haval, Wey, Ora, and Tank badges.

In several cases, manufacturers can have more than five brands – like state-owned SAIC, which owns MG, LDV, Maxus, IM, Rising Auto, Baojun, Wuling, Hongyan, Sunwin, and Roewe, as well as having joint ventures with Volkswagen Group and General Motors.

According to the report, the combined market share of Volkswagen and Toyota – sales leaders in China in previous years – has dropped by 50 per cent in the face of strong competition from domestic brands.

BYD is now the best-selling car brand in China, having overtaken Volkswagen for the top rung.

In the past two decades, car giants from the US, Europe, and Japan have invested heavily in operations in China – which were required to be partnered with local companies – as the country’s middle class exploded and car sales rocketed.