cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/52790279
European carmakers are rapidly losing market share globally as Chinese rivals enter a new phase of expansion and innovation, said the head of the world’s biggest operator of car-carrying ships.
“The reason why Chinese are winning market shares is because they innovate themselves,” he told analysts on a recent earnings call. “The Chinese producers have gone from being cost leaders to now being technology leaders.”
Wallenius Wilhelmsen has historically benefited from western carmakers shipping their products to China. But the Norwegian group, which sells space on its ships to carmakers, is now trying to capture more revenue by helping newer Chinese brands to expand overseas.
Well, yes. And there is no-one to blame but our own car brands. Used to cosy political protection, they simply assumed that business would go on like it did for decades.
Having to deal with EV technology would reduce their profits, so they basically ignored that topic, and probably spent more on lobbying to prevent the end of fossile fuel cars than on EV research and development.