As China gross sales gradual, can India drive German automobile development? – DW – 01/08/2026 | EUROtoday

The Nürburgring within the Western hills of Germany is the world’s longest everlasting race observe. It’s virtually a century outdated and was the positioning of many Formula One Grand Prix races.

The observe’s foremost half is named the Nordschleife, or the Northern Loop. The 20.8-kilometer (12.9-mile) observe is nicknamed the “Green Hell” — due to the encircling forests of the Eifel area, and its punishing structure.

To perceive the significance of engineering and efficiency in German carmaking, the Nordschleife is an effective place to start out, stated Misha Charoudin, automobile racer and influencer.

“If a car can do a good lap time here, it means all the components work: suspension, tires, engine, chassis, and of course also the driver itself,” he stated, whereas barreling by a nook at 190 kilometers per hour (118 miles per hour). “It’s better than a roller coaster.”

Testing on the race observe

All the massive carmakers have take a look at facilities on the Nürburgring, he stated. In reality, the testing of vehicles was an essential cause for constructing the race observe in 1927.

Germany’s auto trade has used this legacy, and the no-speed-limit Autobahn, Germany’s public freeway system, to its benefit in promoting and model constructing.

Brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen stood for precision engineering, efficiency and reliability. They weren’t simply vehicles — they had been cultural icons, and the spine of Germany’s economic system.

But right now, that magic is fading.

Lost Wonderland

Germany’s auto trade employs over one million folks and has lengthy been a barometer of financial well being. In 1950, German automobile makers bought about 200,000 automobiles. Today, they promote round 14 million globally. For many years, the system was easy: world-class engineering plus world demand equaled success.

But the great occasions are over. Sales are shrinking, jobs are being reduce and factories face closure. “The pressure rises, the cost savings are tremendous,” stated one Mercedes worker, who wished to stay unnamed. “It’s all about cost cuts everywhere.”

The first cracks appeared in 2015 with Dieselgate, when Volkswagen was caught dishonest on emissions assessments. The scandal value VW greater than €30 billion ($35 billion) and shattered belief in German manufacturers. Worse, it coincided with a world pivot towards climate-friendly applied sciences. While Tesla doubled electrical automobile gross sales, German producers hesitated.

China: From gold rush to misplaced floor

For years, China was the promised land. In the Eighties, China’s political leaders invited Volkswagen (which in German interprets to “car of the people”) to type joint ventures and construct vehicles in China, for China’s folks. There had been occasions when Volkswagen’s market share approached 50%.

Later, different carmakers adopted swimsuit. The extra China’s economic system grew, the larger the nation’s automobile market turned. Until a couple of years in the past, Germany’s automobile makers bought each third automobile in China.

“It was gold digger time,” recalled Beatrix Keim, who spent twenty years with VW in China and is now a director at CAR, an trade consultancy in Duisburg. “Selling lots of cars, earning lots of money. There was not much of a Chinese competition.”

China’s probability to overhaul German carmakers

But China had a plan: study from overseas companions, then lead. In 2009, Beijing handed to regulation to pushelectric automobiles. “It was not really driven by climate change,” Keim defined. “It was to find a technology where China had a chance to overtake the foreigners, where China could thrive.”

German carmakers did not see this coming, she added. They had underestimated the willpower of China’s management, and the velocity of growth.

Billions in subsidies and infrastructure later, China is now the world chief in electrical automobiles and batteries.

“Starting with EV, they had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to overtake Germany. And they did,” stated Manuel Vermeer, who teaches Chinese tradition and enterprise on the University of Applied Sciences in Ludwigshafen.

Today, each second automobile bought in China is electrical — and virtually all are Chinese manufacturers. German gross sales have tanked of their most essential market.

“I think it has a lot to do with arrogance”, stated Vermeer. “I’ve been conducting intercultural trainings for Germans regarding China for more than 30 years. And the German point of view is always: We are superior, how can we teach them what to do, they should learn from us. But hardly ever was it something like: We could learn from them, we should listen more, or maybe they are different from what we think?”

And Germany will depend on China for batteries. “Even if we build very good EV cars, we’d still need the batteries from China,” stated Vermeer. “We are more dependent than we used to be.”

With China slipping away, consideration is popping to India, now the world’s most populous nation. Could it’s the subsequent huge factor?

Can India fill the hole?

If you watch the dense site visitors in Chennai, a metropolis in India’s southeast, you not often spot a German automobile. Indian, Japanese and Korean vehicles dominate the streets of town that’s typically known as “India’s Detroit,” on account of its many automobile factories.

BMW’s Chennai plant produces simply round 80 vehicles a day, in comparison with 1,400 on the carmaker’s German flagship. Still, development is robust — over 10% yearly.

“There’s a big rush to the Indian market,” stated plant supervisor Thomas Dose. “Everybody feels like: if we are not in India now, we’ll miss some opportunity.”

But Dose is reasonable. “Is India the new China? I would say no. It’s India, it’s different. It has its potential. But we will not have this extensive growth like in China.”

Experts agree. India’s market is promising, however German carmakers face cultural hurdles. “We want to sell the best cars in the world,” stated Vermeer. “But that’s over-engineering. In India, being at 80% works — get feedback, adapt. Our sense of ‘perfect’ is not the best thing for this market.”

Lessons discovered — or too late?

Beatrix Keim believes German carmakers try to vary. “They understood they need to be faster, come down from their ivory tower and learn,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the race for constructing profitable electrical automobiles is in full swing. In China, native EV producers are battling overcapacities and falling costs. They are additionally attempting to promote their EVs in Europe, to this point with average success.

But EV carmakers from China and elsewhere are testing their vehicles on Germany’s personal Nürburgring, a symbolic twist in a narrative of misplaced dominance.

Could German carmakers miss the boat totally? “It can happen,” stated racing Misha Charoudin. “Look at [Finnish mobile phone maker] Nokia. They were thriving. And then all of a sudden, they missed the boat.”

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