"Continue to increase the intensity and speed of the 'In China, for China' strategy, expand local cooperation, and increase business in China. There is no doubt that China has become our second home court." Ober, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group of Germany Oliver Blume said this during the 2024 Beijing International Motor Show. With its huge market size and development potential, China has become the “second hometown” of many foreign companies. Especially in the field of new energy vehicles, China is not only a consumer giant with a huge market, but also a leader in manufacturing. In 2023, my country's new energy vehicle production and sales will increase by 35.8% and 37.9% year-on-year, ranking first in the world's new energy vehicle production and sales for 9 consecutive years.

After four years, the 2024 Beijing Auto Show returns grandly, with 117 world premiere cars making a stunning debut, with new energy vehicles firmly occupying the C position. According to the observations of CGTN financial reporters, at this auto show, in addition to consumers shopping for their favorite vehicles, foreign car companies are also busy "holding hands" with Chinese partners to catch up with the rise of Chinese electric car manufacturers in the global market. . According to reports, two models jointly developed by Volkswagen and Xpeng Motors will be launched in 2026. Toyota Motor and Tencent Group, Nissan Motor and Baidu, and Renault Motors and Xiaomi have all reached or plan to reach strategic partnerships. The level of cooperation has also expanded from automobile R&D and manufacturing to cutting-edge technology fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data. This coincides with what Premier Li Qiang emphasized during his investigation of the 2024 Beijing Auto Show on April 28, to vigorously develop intelligent connected new energy vehicles, adhere to the concept of leading industrial innovation with technological innovation, and deepen and expand open cooperation.

Increase investment in China and share the "big cake" of the Chinese market. Mercedes-Benz chief technical officer Xue Fuming made it clear at the auto show that China is Mercedes-Benz's largest and most important market. Mercedes-Benz has invested 1 billion euros in Chinese factories and localization, and will continue to strengthen research and development in the future to meet the demands of local customers.

Rolls-Royce, the top luxury car brand, is also racing against time to accelerate its expansion into the Chinese market. According to brand estimates, by 2025, the sales penetration rate of China's luxury car market is expected to exceed 18%. This is why Rolls-Royce set up the world's second exclusive customization center in Shanghai in August last year, and then launched the Shanghai Auto Parts Distribution Center in March this year, fully demonstrating its determination to deeply explore the Chinese market. Chris Brownridge, global CEO of Rolls-Royce, said in an interview that China is a region with great development potential for Rolls-Royce, and they hope to have a deeper understanding of the demands of Chinese consumers and establish strong customer relationships.

The key factor in attracting foreign investment to increase investment in China is not only China's huge market size, but also China's full industry chain hardware advantages and cutting-edge technological strength in the field of new energy vehicles. These provide high-quality solutions for traditional car companies to achieve the "elephant turn" in the electrification era. The German Volkswagen Group spent 1 billion euros last year to establish its largest R&D center in Hefei besides its headquarters and officially put it into operation. It recently announced an additional investment of 2.5 billion euros in China to deepen cooperation with enterprises in China.

The best solution is to gain insight into the current situation and take advantage of the situation. In February this year, Xpeng Motors and Volkswagen signed a cooperation agreement to accelerate the development of electric vehicles. This is not only a further advancement of the cooperative relationship between the two parties since they "joined hands" last year, but also marks that China's automobile industry has achieved a transformation from foreign investment in the 1980s through its own technology. The cooperation model in exchange for the Chinese market has now changed to the transformation of Chinese companies using their own advanced technologies to cooperate with foreign-funded companies to develop international markets. He Xiaopeng, founder of Xpeng Motors, said that in the past 40 years, advanced technologies from Germany and other countries have helped the development of China's automobile industry. He hopes that in the future, Chinese companies can provide the world with better car-making technologies.