The market shares of Chinese car manufacturers are jumping from record to record. Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg are now demanding action – including on the issues of energy and CO₂.
Dusseldorf. The prime ministers of the three major German car countries are calling for more decisive action against growing imports from China. In a joint paper, Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg urge the federal government and the EU Commission to use existing protection instruments more consistently and, if necessary, to take new measures against unfairly subsidized imports.
The paper entitled “Act decisively, ensure fair competition, avoid structural breaks” will be published this Thursday. The Handelsblatt had previously received statements from this.
Instead of “watching idly as highly subsidized imports displace our domestic value creation,” the EU must “protect our industry from unfair competition even more than before,” demands Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens). Europe should “make greater use of strategic protection instruments without isolating ourselves”. Özdemir formulates his goal succinctly: “We not only want to drive cars, but also build them here in Germany.”
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder also warns against losing industrial capabilities to the outside world. It would be “a serious mistake to leave our know-how abroad,” says the CSU boss. At the same time, he is calling for a course that is much more open to technology and is sticking to the combustion engine in addition to electric cars.
Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Olaf Lies has a different focus. For the SPD politician, electromobility remains “the central technology of the future in the automotive industry”. At the same time, the industry needs “reliable and flexible transitional solutions” because the transformation is taking more time than originally expected.
China imports: Punitive tariffs planned for plug-in hybrids
Chinese car brands such as BYD, MG and Leapmotor are rapidly gaining market share in Europe. From January to July, 8.7 percent of new registrations were for Chinese brands; In 2021 it was only 0.6 percent.
There is therefore growing concern in industrial circles that the advances by Chinese manufacturers will further intensify price competition in Europe. The heads of state and government of the European Union will meet in mid-October. The question of additional protective measures for European industry is also likely to play an important role.
The EU has been levying so-called countervailing duties on electric cars produced in China since 2024. This protection does not yet apply to plug-in hybrids. Their imports from China have recently risen particularly sharply and are overtaking bestsellers in the segment such as the Tiguan from Volkswagen or the Mercedes SUV GLC. In Commission circles, protective tariffs are already being prepared against hybrid cars.
China market leader BYD announced this week that it would build three vehicle plants and a battery factory in Europe in the long term - also to meet EU requirements and avoid customs payments. The first BYD plant in Hungary is currently starting production.
In addition to dealing with China correctly, the joint paper contains a broad list of demands for the transformation of the auto industry. The countries are demanding so-called local content rules that give greater consideration to European production in funding programs. They also want more flexibility in the European CO₂ fleet limits and in the switch to electromobility.
The three heads of government set different accents. While Bavaria's Prime Minister Söder is calling for a move away from the rigid end of combustion engines and is calling for a future for modern combustion engines in addition to electric cars, Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Lies is expressly sticking to electromobility as a central technology of the future, but is calling for lower electricity and charging prices for its ramp-up.
The federal government should contribute more to this. Network fees should be financed to a greater extent from the federal budget in the future. This would mean that the costs of network expansion would be shifted more from the electricity price to the state budget. The country leaders are also calling for a lower electricity tax, further expansion of the charging infrastructure and more support for used electric cars.
