11:34 am, May 6, 2025
Chinese car manufacturers are making European and American rivals seem ‘irrelevant’ thanks to their advanced technology and increased production power.
That is according to one expert, who says that Chinese firms which were making garden equipment just a few short years ago could soon be rivalling much more established legacy brands.
Claire Miller, an independent advisor on all things electric and mobility, recently attended the Shanghai Motor Show and says she was blown away by what she found.
The expert was the most recent guest on the Car Dealer Podcast, where she explained brand’s like BYD are driving a major change in the automotive industry.
She told hosts James Baggott and Jon Reay: ‘China is where it’s at. In a past life, I spent quite a lot of time working in China.
‘I used to go back and forth a lot. Over my whole career, I’ve been to see lots of manufacturing sites in Shenzhen – obviously now home of BYD.
‘I’ve been going out there for 20 odd years – when the roads weren’t metal – now, it’s a tier one city so you can see the rise, which is a lot to do with BYD.
‘It feels different. It feels like a can-do attitude everywhere. What with that, and their advanced industrial manufacturing, these companies are able to make a different car on every position in their line.
‘It’s mainly automated, they’re pushing out 40 cars an hour at 20 plants. They’re coming and they’re serious.
‘It was really exciting to be out there to see the cars and also to talk to some of the supply chain.
‘There are people like CATL, they make batteries, but they’re at pains to say that they just make batteries, they’re moving into being a platform provider as well. Huawei, who are not just mobile phones, they’ve got car features coming out.
‘It’s exciting to see different technologies and different features all coming together in this melting pot where a year turnaround on a new car is becoming standard for the Chinese.’
‘Mind blowing’
During a lengthy chat, Miller described the scale of the motor show as ‘mind blowing’.
The event was also attended by our very own Baggott. You can read his thoughts here.
Miller added that in order to survive, the UK’s automotive industry will have to ’embrace’ the new Chinese influence and learn from what they have to offer.
She said: ‘Xiaomi stood out for me, co-located with CATL which was really interesting.
‘They’re a company that, according to my Chinese hosts, were making home and garden equipment a few years ago.
‘Now they’ve worked with CATL, got the platform, and now they’ve got a brand new car.
‘The most mind blowing thing for me was the scale of production and also like how irrelevant Europe and America felt being in those halls.
‘I found that it a very good learning experience because they’re coming and they’re coming fast and we got to embrace it.’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by Carwow, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed on this week’s episode can be found here.
You can listen to all episodes of the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
