People visit the booth of battery manufacturer CATL, at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, or Auto China 2024, in Beijing, China, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
BEIJING, April 26 (Reuters) - Global automakers including Volkswagen and Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab came to this year's Beijing auto show looking to catch up to surging China EV makers that are dominating the world's largest auto market.
The show that started this week showcased a marked shift in attitude among some foreign automakers, industry executives said. After being impressed by the bold leaps made by BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab and other Chinese automakers at last year's event in Shanghai, foreign automakers are now avidly searching for Chinese partners and announcing new tie-ups, the executives said.
Among the most active were European and Japanese automakers, with announcements coming from Toyota Motor that it would team up with Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent , opens new tab on artificial intelligence and big data, and Volkswagen promoting its partnership with Chinese EV startup XPeng , opens new tab.
An executive from Renault, opens new tab said on Friday it had "pivotal conversations" with Chinese EV maker Li Auto, opens new tab and Xiaomi , opens new tab, the smartphone maker that just introduced its first car, to explore EV and smart-vehicle technologies. Nissan, opens new tab, meanwhile, announced a tie-up with Chinese tech firm Baidu to carry out research on AI and "smart cars."
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida visited several booths including that of Chinese tech giant Huawei, which is becoming a major auto supplier.
European automakers sent "much more senior management" to visit the booth of LIDAR remote sensing technology supplier Hesai Technology this year versus last year, said Bob in den Bosch, senior vice president of global sales at the Shanghai-headquartered firm.
"They're looking for a partner to close the gap," he said. "They came here with a plan and a mission."
Foreign brands have dominated China's auto business since the 1990s and have brought extensive know-how to the Asian country. But last year, foreign brands' collective share of China's passenger car market fell to 48%, down sharply from 57% just two years earlier, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
GOING LOCAL
German automakers including Volkswagen and Mercedes (MBGn.DE), opens new tab, in particular, emphasized their efforts to localize production and invest more in local partnerships, with Volkswagen saying repeatedly its goal was to remain the best-selling foreign automaker in China into 2030.
Hildegard Mueller, president of Germany's powerful car lobby VDA, told Reuters that the German automakers are, in addition, exploring new marketing strategies to attract Chinese consumers. This includes partnering with the country’s army of car influencers, who promote and discuss new vehicle models and trends with their large followings on social media.
"It’s huge (online) traffic and huge potential,” she said.
The market share in China of Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker, declined last year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Toyota's China joint ventures with GAC and FAW held a combined 7.9% of the Chinese auto market last year, compared with an 8.6% share in 2022, the CPCA said. Toyota has said it will include technology from Tencent in a China-made passenger vehicle the Japanese automaker will put on sale this year as part of a new tie-up.
On Thursday, Toyota took care to emphasize the new tie-up, with its chief technology officer, Hiroki Nakajima, inviting a senior Tencent executive onstage to its auto show presentation.
"We want to, with Toyota, build products and services that are closer to consumers, to jointly build mobility solutions of the future and we look forward to the fruits of our cooperation," said Dowson Tong, CEO of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industries Group.
在2024年北京国际汽车展上，全球汽车制造商如大众和丰田展示了对中国电动汽车厂商的高度关注，这些中国品牌目前正在引领全球最大的汽车市场。面对去年在上海汽车展上中国品牌如比亚迪的突破表现，外国汽车制造商现在积极寻找中国合作伙伴，并宣布了多项新的合作。
丰田宣布将与中国的互联网巨头腾讯在人工智能和大数据方面展开合作，而大众则推介其与中国电动车初创公司小鹏的合作。雷诺探讨了与中国电动汽车制造商理想汽车及智能手机制造商小米（最近推出其首款汽车）在电动车和智能车技术方面的合作。同时，日产与中国科技公司百度达成合作，共同研究人工智能和智能汽车技术。
自90年代以来，外国品牌一直主导中国汽车市场。然而，据中国汽车工业协会的数据显示，去年外国品牌在中国乘用车市场的市场份额从两年前的57%下降到48%。为了适应市场变化，包括大众和梅赛德斯-奔驰在内的德国汽车制造商特别强调加强本地化生产和深化本地合作的重要性。大众甚至明确表示，其目标是到2030年仍然是中国市场上销量最高的外国汽车制造商。
此外，这些制造商也在探索新的市场策略，比如与中国众多汽车影响者合作，通过他们在社交媒体上的大量追随者推广新车型和趋势。丰田也特别强调了与腾讯的新合作关系，并计划在今年投放市场的中国制造乘用车中加入腾讯的技术。
