When Audi managers first came across the Zeekr 001 in 2021-a slim, long-desired electric car with European style, it served as a wake-up call. To keep pace with Chinese car manufacturers, the German brand realized that it should embrace their technology.
“The Zeekr 001 shocked everyone free,” said Stefan Poetzl, president of Saic Audi Sales and Marketing. “We had to do something about it.”
In response, Audi developed the E5 Sportback in just 18 months, depending on the technology of its Chinese partner SAIC, including batteries, an electric powertrain, infotainment software and advanced driver systems.
Audi expects to deliver the $ 33,000 EV to customers in China this month and the global rivals now also want to use Chinese Intellectual Property to quickly roll out new models. Toyota and Volkswagen have joint development plans for China-Dedicated models with technology from Chinese partners GAC and XPeng respectively.
Renault and Ford want to go one step further and develop global models on Chinese EV platforms, says sources. Renault did not respond to a request for comment. Ford refused to comment.
Such license colors form relatively small but growing income flows for Chinese EV makers and for the time being offer a new Quid-Pro-Quo.
Global car manufacturers need Chinese technology to jump the development of development and quickly launch new EVs. In the meantime, Chinese companies urgently need extra income in the midst of bruises at home and intensively the trade war abroad.
“It is a very smart, win-win solution,” says Wang, general director of the Shanghai-based consultancy firm Autodatas, which breaks down reports of best-selling EV models.
‘China inside’
This new strategy is similar to the “Intel Inside” campaign of the 1990s, where the American chip maker Intel-of-the-art used components to transform computers into premium products.
In this case, Chinese car manufacturers sell EV technology in a box: the substantiation for ready-made, white label battery-driven cars that are suitable, even for manufacturers with a low volume with small budgets.
Leap engine works with Stellantis to sell his EVs outside of China and talks to other brands to licensed his technology, CEO Zhu Jiangming told Reuters.
The use of a ready-made Chinese EV chassis and software can save billions of dollars and years of development time and help traditional car manufacturers to overtake Chinese rivals, say experts in the field of auto-industry.
Renault was an early adopteur and built the cheap Dacia Spring EV on a platform of the Chinese Dongfeng for sale in Europe from 2021.
Renault has gone one step further with the new Electric Twingo in the research center in Shanghai, with a Chinese EV engineering firm, launch design, which offers technical support in developing an EV platform, according to two people who are familiar with the issue.
The launch did not respond to requests for comments.
Other “China Inside” models could come soon. Ford is looking for a Chinese partner to offer EV platform technologies, said two people with knowledge of the case. CEO Jim Farley has often tested Chinese EVs and recently praised SU7 Electric Sedan from Xiaomi.
Volkswagen has expanded plans to develop China-Dedicated models of all fuel types based on platforms developed together with XPeng, using the layout designs of the latest electronics and software.
Analysts say that legacy car manufacturers usually have difficulty developing Agile EV systems that can be updated quickly due to complicated organizational structures.
That is why Volkswagen wants to see whether the EV technologies of Xpeng Volkswagen’s can supplement or replace, said Yale Zhang, director of the Shanghai Consultancy Autoforesight. If it works in China, Volkswagen could apply the strategy worldwide, Zhang added.
A spokesperson for Volkswagen China told Reuters that his collaboration with Xpeng was for the time being on China.
The XiaOpeng of Xpeng has said that the two car manufacturers want to expand their partnership outside of China. That would increase Xpeng’s income without building factories abroad, said Wang of Autodatas.
Oliver Wyman analyst Marco Santino said that traditional car manufacturers can use the “firepower” of bright Chinese EV competition to jump for the development curve.
“You get a much more quality -resistant product on the market in a shorter time frame,” said Santino.
More choice?
Inspired by Tesla, the EV -makers of China have developed modular platforms that lower costs and speed up development and speed up the access barriers. “They are fast students from Tesla,” said Forest TU, a former director of the Chinese battery giant Catl who founded MapleView Technology consultancy.
That advantage is now large enough to support “licenses and royalty services”, while Chinese EV -Makers are expanding overseas, TU said.
Catl has adopted that approach with Ford and gave his technology for a battery plant in license.
Exporting Chinese technology can help to build less industrialized countries their own “national EV brands”, TU said.
Cyvn Holdings, based in Abu Dhabi, a strategic investor in NIO, has developed its own Premium EV model using the chassis and software of the Chinese EV maker.
CyVN bought the British sports car maker McLaren in April and is now planning to sell its EV using the McLaren brand, according to two sources that are familiar with the issue. But future models will contain much more McLaren “DNA” and less Chinese technology, one source said.
Nio refused to comment. CyVN did not respond to a request for comment.
Catl’s new EV -Chassis will meanwhile enabling consumers to “decide what an EV looks like, instead of having gigantic car manufacturers decide what to sell,” said executive President Hu Guoliang.
Catl said it would solve chassis production in the next three years after drawing with various domestic car manufacturers. The rock -chassis debuted this week in Europe at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich.
However, whether the mutual benefits of the EV technology of China last in the longer term remains an important question.
Former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said that although there were savings in R&D, car manufacturers should avoid too much dependence on third-party technology. “You are sewn in the long term because you are just a retailer,” said Palmer.
Santino from Oliver Wyman said that the great risk for traditional car manufacturers is that someone else’s use means that “your ability to distinguish your brand is really limited.” By mixing in their own technology, car manufacturers can “limit the risk,” Santino added.
