International management
Notes guest lecture
The rise and fall of the German
automotive industry in China
KU Leuven
, Dr. Marcus Schütz
Worked in the German army
Studied in science
Mining company in the UK
Academia: bridge between theory and practice
The industry: Bosch, consulting firm Boston, Volkswagen, and Swiss company
View from my office
HQ in Germany to Volkswagen firm in Shanghai
People joke that Beijing’s three core mottos are: pollution, corruption and congestion
Air quality should be about max 50: above is bad for your health, luckily the quality
improved
Blue number plates are combustion engine vehicles, and in China there are different policies
in different cities to limit the supply of number plates, so of course if you want to drive a car
you need a number plate, but you cannot just go to the registry: you either
- Join a lottery (in Beijing): the fairest things, the same chances
- Auctions to obtain a number plate (in Shanghai)
Sources with unwanted information are censored
Apps where you can see how good/bad the air quality is, but data is censored on the orders
from the government (picture on slide 3 and quality of 78 = good on slide 4 were
taken/measured on the same day): now this is different because they try to improve it
Slide 5
The executive committee of the Volkswagen Shanghai: joint venture with a Chinese and a
German (not nationalities) in the important roles (management team of the largest joint-
venture in the automotive industry)
Slide 6
Outdated
1. Where is the German auto industry in China standing now?
Top selling car brand in China in august 2023
BYD is on top: year on year change over 30% and market share of 12% = enormous and it is
even more remarkable because BYD used to be a battery supplier from Nokia, so it is a
rather new company
They looked in how to make more money: their first cars were not good, but they started
with producing electrical vehicles and this incurs the same problem as everyone: an
expensive battery and therefore the rest of the car needs to be cheaper, but they didn’t give
up even with all their setbacks and kept going and is now the largest player in China
Limitations: what is the best charging systems? a) charge the car: plug in and then wait (as
we know it now) b) a battery swap: you drive into a swap charging station, you take the
depleted battery out and you get a new charged battery plugged in: you rent the battery and
you are just rent the usage of the battery (different ownerships), but now you need 2
batteries (one is charging, the other is used) and this is the disadvantage and the idea was
abandoned
Notes guest lecture
The rise and fall of the German
automotive industry in China
KU Leuven
, Dr. Marcus Schütz
Worked in the German army
Studied in science
Mining company in the UK
Academia: bridge between theory and practice
The industry: Bosch, consulting firm Boston, Volkswagen, and Swiss company
View from my office
HQ in Germany to Volkswagen firm in Shanghai
People joke that Beijing’s three core mottos are: pollution, corruption and congestion
Air quality should be about max 50: above is bad for your health, luckily the quality
improved
Blue number plates are combustion engine vehicles, and in China there are different policies
in different cities to limit the supply of number plates, so of course if you want to drive a car
you need a number plate, but you cannot just go to the registry: you either
- Join a lottery (in Beijing): the fairest things, the same chances
- Auctions to obtain a number plate (in Shanghai)
Sources with unwanted information are censored
Apps where you can see how good/bad the air quality is, but data is censored on the orders
from the government (picture on slide 3 and quality of 78 = good on slide 4 were
taken/measured on the same day): now this is different because they try to improve it
Slide 5
The executive committee of the Volkswagen Shanghai: joint venture with a Chinese and a
German (not nationalities) in the important roles (management team of the largest joint-
venture in the automotive industry)
Slide 6
Outdated
1. Where is the German auto industry in China standing now?
Top selling car brand in China in august 2023
BYD is on top: year on year change over 30% and market share of 12% = enormous and it is
even more remarkable because BYD used to be a battery supplier from Nokia, so it is a
rather new company
They looked in how to make more money: their first cars were not good, but they started
with producing electrical vehicles and this incurs the same problem as everyone: an
expensive battery and therefore the rest of the car needs to be cheaper, but they didn’t give
up even with all their setbacks and kept going and is now the largest player in China
Limitations: what is the best charging systems? a) charge the car: plug in and then wait (as
we know it now) b) a battery swap: you drive into a swap charging station, you take the
depleted battery out and you get a new charged battery plugged in: you rent the battery and
you are just rent the usage of the battery (different ownerships), but now you need 2
batteries (one is charging, the other is used) and this is the disadvantage and the idea was
abandoned
