Western automakers need to radically restructure if they are to compete against a new wave of Chinese electric vehicles, according to a new report.
An explosion of new EV models has hit Chinese markets, with companies simplifying the manufacturing process and throwing huge resources into software. To keep up, European and American stalwarts in the auto industry need to match that startup urgency, according to an annual report by global consulting firm AlixPartners.
“Automakers expecting to continue operating under business-as-usual principles are in for more than just a rude awakening — they are headed for obsolescence,” Andrew Bergbaum, the co-leader of AlixPartners’ auto and industrial practice and a co-author of the report, said in a statement.
American automakers do much of their business abroad. But AlixPartners projected that the Chinese brands will gobble market share in many parts of the world by 2030, doubling their share in Europe and growing quickly in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. By the start of the next decade, China could sell 9 million vehicles abroad a year.
