"Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes getting left in the dust by China EVs" - article

[Tooney]

SHANGHAI - Ms Ryan Xu was a dream customer for Germany’s carmakers. The Guangdong-based entrepreneur and her husband own a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and were among the first buyers of the electric Porsche Taycan.

But her views on German cars have soured as Chinese consumers increasingly favour tech refinement over traditional selling points like horsepower and handling. The software systems in the Taycan, which cost well over US$100,000 (S$130,800), were “terrible”, the 36-year-old Ms Xu said. It was “just an electrified Porsche – and that’s it”.

Her assessment is not isolated.

As China moves away from combustion-engine cars, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are struggling to offer electric vehicles (EVs) that appeal to customers in their largest and most lucrative market, putting €35 billion (S$51.3 billion) of investment on the line.

The latest warning signs came last week when all three German manufacturers reported slumping third-quarter sales in China. BMW posted its steepest sales drop there in more than four years, a 30 per cent plunge, and Mercedes’ deliveries declined 13 per cent amid poor demand for its priciest cars, including S-Class and Maybach limousines.

Porsche’s sales in China tumbled 19 per cent to its worst third-quarter performance in a decade as global demand for the Taycan nearly halved. Volkswagen (VW) – the parent of Porsche and Audi – reported a 15 per cent decline.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/vw-bmw-and-mercedes-getting-left-in-the-dust-by-china-s-evs

 

[daveo4EV]

SHANGHAI - Ms Ryan Xu was a dream customer for Germany’s carmakers. The Guangdong-based entrepreneur and her husband own a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and were among the first buyers of the electric Porsche Taycan.

But her views on German cars have soured as Chinese consumers increasingly favour tech refinement over traditional selling points like horsepower and handling. The software systems in the Taycan, which cost well over US$100,000 (S$130,800), were “terrible”, the 36-year-old Ms Xu said. It was “just an electrified Porsche – and that’s it”.

Her assessment is not isolated.

As China moves away from combustion-engine cars, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are struggling to offer electric vehicles (EVs) that appeal to customers in their largest and most lucrative market, putting €35 billion (S$51.3 billion) of investment on the line.

The latest warning signs came last week when all three German manufacturers reported slumping third-quarter sales in China. BMW posted its steepest sales drop there in more than four years, a 30 per cent plunge, and Mercedes’ deliveries declined 13 per cent amid poor demand for its priciest cars, including S-Class and Maybach limousines.

Porsche’s sales in China tumbled 19 per cent to its worst third-quarter performance in a decade as global demand for the Taycan nearly halved. Volkswagen (VW) – the parent of Porsche and Audi – reported a 15 per cent decline.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/vw-bmw-and-mercedes-getting-left-in-the-dust-by-china-s-evs

so it begins…this aligns with my assessments and opinion - the "driving experience is better" sauce is weak when the digital tech sucks on a daily basis…

 

[Tooney]

so it begins…this aligns with my assessments and opinion - the "driving experience is better" sauce is weak when the digital tech sucks on a daily basis…

Related earlier post: "I Went To China And Drove A Dozen Electric Cars. Western Automakers Are Cooked" - Article

 

[Vercingetorix]

I really wish chicken little would go away.

 

[f1eng]

so it begins…this aligns with my assessments and opinion - the "driving experience is better" sauce is weak when the digital tech sucks on a daily basis…

I think that in general for most customers cars are appliances they need rather than something they get pleasure from driving.
If Porsche had stayed with just sports cars instead of embracing SUVs they wouldn't exist any more.

People like me who like cars for the driving and don't care about the gadget quotient are rare and, usually, older I think.

I suppose if I didn't enjoy driving and just needed a car to go places something self-driving, or close, with loads of entertainment and connectivity would reduce the drudgery of my life but I bought my Taycan because I liked driving it.

The only thing I dislike about it a lot is the width, I would prefer it to be lighter too, but that software I appreciate - the steering, PSM, torque vectoring, body control, rear wheel steer and active anti roll bars work well on mine.

The software people generally are dissatisfied by are bits I don't give a d@mn about, like carplay (which I rarely use) and the sound system, which will always be poor by my standards in a car environment and any driver assistance like adaptive cruise control or or innodrive I have almost no need for.

If I had chosen something like a Mercedes EQS I would resent not sitting in the back enjoying the space and luxury so wouldn't get a car like that until full autonomy was foolproof.

I like my Taycan a lot (except the width), I will keep it 6 years, probably, so hopefully depreciation won't be a concern and it continues to be reliable.

 

[daveo4EV]

I think that in general for most customers cars are appliances they need rather than something they get pleasure from driving.
If Porsche had stayed with just sports cars instead of embracing SUVs they wouldn't exist any more.

People like me who like cars for the driving and don't care about the gadget quotient are rare and, usually, older I think.

I suppose if I didn't enjoy driving and just needed a car to go places something self-driving, or close, with loads of entertainment and connectivity would reduce the drudgery of my life but I bought my Taycan because I liked driving it.

The only thing I dislike about it a lot is the width, I would prefer it to be lighter too, but that software I appreciate - the steering, torque vectoring, body control, rear wheel steer and active anti roll bars work well on mine.

The software people generally are dissatisfied by are bits I don't give a d@mn about, like carplay (which I rarely use) and the sound system, which will always be poor by my standards in a car environment and any driver assistance like adaptive cruise control or or innodrive I have almost no need for.

If I had chosen something like a Mercedes EQS I would resent not sitting in the back enjoying the space and luxury so wouldn't get a car like that until full autonomy was foolproof.

I like my Taycan a lot (except the width), I will keep it 6 years, probably, so hopefully depreciation won't be a concern and it continues to be reliable.

I understand and appreciate this perspective - honestly I do - but I'm not even talking about driving assistance - but in my opinion increasingly the non-driving software of the car being fast, efficient, relaible is table stakes - connectivity that actually works, digital cloud services, a PCM that starts up in less than 5 minutes, and does it reliability…

there is software that enhances the ownership/driving experience
there is software that makes the car better
there is connectivity that has to work reliability
there is software that can help you drive the vehicle

and then there is software that detracts from the ownership experience - more often than not I find Porsche's software is pulling down the ownership experience - where I'd settle for neutral…

when you drive around for 10-20 minutes with a spinning blue circle on the main PCM screen it's doesn't really matter that the shock absorbers are the best in the industry - and then when you take it to dealership service and they are 100% clueless and worthless towards resolving that sort of issues - well it gets even worse…

driving experience is one thing…but ownership experience is holistic - and my $0.02 is these days you need all of it - not just some of it. Porsche vehicles have great driving experience, but a substandard ownership experience and increasingly it's because of their software…

we'll see how this plays out…but the trend is already clear regardless of if you agree with me or not.

 

[f1eng]

I understand and appreciate this perspective - honestly I do - but I'm not even talking about driving assistance - but in my opinion increasingly the non-driving software of the car being fast, efficient, relaible is table stakes - connectivity that actually works, digital cloud services, a PCM that starts up in less than 5 minutes, and does it reliability…

there is software that enhances the ownership/driving experience
there is software that makes the car better
there is connectivity that has to work reliability
there is software that can help you drive the vehicle

and then there is software that detracts from the ownership experience - more often than not I find Porsche's software is pulling down the ownership experience - where I'd settle for neutral…

when you drive around for 10-20 minutes with a spinning blue circle on the main PCM screen it's doesn't really matter that the shock absorbers are the best in the industry - and then when you take it to dealership service and they are 100% clueless and worthless towards resolving that sort of issues - well it gets even worse…

driving experience is one thing…but ownership experience is holistic - and my $0.02 is these days you need all of it - not just some of it. Porsche vehicles have great driving experience, but a substandard ownership experience and increasingly it's because of their software…

we'll see how this plays out…but the trend is already clear regardless of if you agree with me or not.

I have never had a spinning blue circle in the PCM screen.

I have had the occasional time the app thinks the car is not available, probably 3 times in the last 2 years maybe. I don't use cloud services afaik, and avoid using non-driving software or phone while driving ever since the TRL found using them gives a similar level of inattention to being just over the drink-driving limit.

I would use them in an autonomous car but nothing around today. I can't bring myself to talk to my car (or siri)...

So I haven't find my ownership experience substandard.