Mercedes Benz CEO: Decoupling from China poses risks to healthy competition and global automotive su

An open market can drive growth and create wealth, "Kang Linsong said in an interview." Let's keep the market open

Bloomberg stated that, like automakers such as Volkswagen and BMW, China is the most important market for Mercedes Benz, accounting for about one-third of its sales. The report also stated that Kang Linsong stated that the automotive industry relies on global supply chains. "We realized in the (COVID-19) epidemic that the supply chain may be fragile." Kang Linsong added that Mercedes depends on parts from five continents.

According to Xinhua News Agency, as a leading global automaker, Mercedes Benz continues to focus on China. Data shows that in the first half of this year, China remained the largest single market for Mercedes Benz. Multiple core business areas in China achieved high-quality growth, and sales in the Chinese market remained leading globally. Sales and new car deliveries in China both increased by more than 6% compared to the same period last year, indicating a stable growth momentum. Kang Linsong recently expressed in an interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters that we are full of confidence in China's long-term development prospects and are willing to increase investment in China.

On the other hand, Reuters previously reported that the European Commission announced the launch of a countervailing investigation against Chinese electric vehicles on the 13th of this month. German Foreign Minister Berber recently stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the European Union must reduce its dependence on China, and she expressed support for the anti subsidy investigation.

According to reports, in order to protect EU manufacturers from the impact of cheaper Chinese imports of electric vehicles, the European Commission will investigate whether to impose a punitive tariff rate of 10% higher than the EU standard. The investigation will take up to 13 months. On the 14th, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China expressed high concern and strong dissatisfaction in response to relevant questions.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce stated that China believes that the investigation measures proposed by the EU are aimed at protecting its own industry under the guise of "fair competition", which is a blatant protectionist behavior that will seriously disrupt and distort the global automotive industry supply chain, including the EU, and will have a negative impact on China Europe economic and trade relations.

(Original title: "Mercedes Benz CEO: Decoupling from China poses risks to healthy competition and global automotive supply chain")