The Chinese Aiways and Weltmeister may stop their activity
- There is a lot of discussion about the creation of new Chinese brands and the decline in the market share of foreign carmakers in China, but little is said about the disappearance or bankruptcy of Chinese brands. The brands Zhidou, Dorcen, Lifan, Zotye, Borgward have, however, effectively disappeared in recent years and today we learn that Weltmeister and Aiways may disappear in their turn over the coming weeks or even months, due to sales volumes too weak. Most of the Weltmeister models have already disappeared. In recent months, sales have fallen to zero.
- So, not all Chinese carmakers are as competitive as you might think. Some find it difficult to sell their cars in the Chinese market. Exporting is even more difficult. The most fragile are those who are not backed by large, powerful groups. The multiplication of the number of brands within the different Chinese groups has indeed made it difficult for certain independent brands to survive. Some took advantage of subsidies granted by the Chinese government to create a range of battery electric vehicles, but not all of them are strong enough to last over time. Even today, some recent brands have less than a year old of existence and there is no guarantee that they will still be alive in four or five years.
- Nothing is set in the Chinese automobile industry. Strong carmakers will remain, such as BYD, Changan, Geely, Chery, Great Wall, SAIC, FAW, GAC and Dongfeng. But nothing is certain for brands like Jiangling, Leapmotor, Li Auto, Seres, Shineray, X-Peng and even NIO despite the very ambitious speeches of its leaders.