Europe's Biggest Auto Show Was About Survival

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⚡️ This Week’s Big Charge

💡  Europe Levels Up Its EV Game. It May Not Be Enough To Fend Off China

Europe’s biggest automotive trade show, the IAA in Munich, happens every two years. The 2023 edition was relatively sleepy in terms of news; mostly, I remember it as the place where I signed the paperwork to become Editor-in-Chief of InsideEVs.

What a difference two years makes. At this year’s show, every major European automaker showed off their future cars—most of them electric. The future of transportation was very much on display. Autonomous vehicle firms highlighted their latest breakthroughs as competition heats up, and battery and charging companies also made a strong showing.

It should’ve felt optimistic. Instead, it felt tense, or whatever the word is for how you feel when you know you have to plan a funeral.

IAA proved that this increasingly electrified and autonomous future will have clear winners and losers—and that China’s auto sector is a force to be reckoned with long-term.

🛻 The Big News From Europe’s Automakers:

• First, IAA was an impressive showcase of how far EVs have come. Range, charging speeds, bidirectional charging, and autonomy have all leapt forward—most cars I saw there felt a decade ahead of their previous generation, not just a few years. The pace of progress is remarkable.

• BMW showed off its iX3, a 400-mile EV with 400-kilowatt fast-charging (it’ll be one of the fastest-charging EVs you can buy in America) and, somehow, a sub-$60,000 price tag.

• As it does, Mercedes-Benz responded in kind with the GLC with EQ Technology, also packing 400+ miles of range and advanced AI features. (And almost 1,000 little light squares on the grille. It looks insane, in a good way.)

• Both companies have electric sedan versions of those coming soon.

• The Volkswagen Group showcased a future family of cheap compact EVs for Europe, including the ID. Cross, Skoda Epiq and future ID. Polo. All are big upgrades from the current EVs, too.

• The Polestar 5 debuted as a high-tech electric grand tourer that, as I can personally attest, is very fast.

• Porsche revealed the new Cayenne Electric can charge wirelessly in your garage, without a plug—something even Tesla hasn’t solved yet. And Audi showed off a stylish new coupe that previews future car designs.

• All in all, it does seem like the Volkswagen Group’s EV strategy is on track—in Europe, at least.

🇨🇳 But China Really Stole The Show:

• The efforts of the Europeans were dwarfed by the combined might of China’s rising auto sector. As analyst Michael Dunne put it: “A massive Chinese auto show is happening in Munich, Germany.”

• “In Europe, for Europe.” Several Chinese auto executives said this, meaning cars tailored to the European market—not just exports—and often built in Europe too. (Europe tariffs the Chinese too, but not at severe a rate as the United States.)

• There were at least 14 Chinese car brands and more than 100 Chinese suppliers at the show—outpacing the European ones by a wide margin.

• Xpeng, the VW Group’s software and technology partner in China, unveiled a new electric sedan and showed off a humanoid robot and an aerial taxi.

• State-owned GAC said it plans to sell 50,000 cars each year in Europe by 2027.

• It wasn’t just cars: Chinese giant CATL, the world’s largest battery-maker, unveiled new packs for European cars as it prepares to open a second factory there, in Hungary.

And then there’s BYD, which is on an entirely different level.