As the probe continues into the viability of importing China-made EVs into Europe, BMW Finance head Walter Mertl believes imposing sanctions on Chinese automakers will hurt the market more than it will protect it, Reuters reports.
BMW is convinced that China has the resources to retaliate against such sanctions – and the effects may be strongly felt. The Bavarian company is exporting its own iX3 EV (shown in the gallery and the video here) from China to Europe, so it is personally interested in keeping the trade alive. Later on, the all-electric Mini lineup is scheduled to reach production in China.
According to Mertl, Europe’s main concern with China-made electric cars is that they are cheap and therefore too attractive for the customers in Europe to prefer locally made EVs over them. However, BMW, unlike Volkswagen, has been unable to see a sharp decline in EV sales recently. The message here is that perhaps some automakers just fail to stay relevant and competitive in the rapidly changing environment.