Die 20-jährige Geschichte der chinesischen Automobile und der Münchner Automobilmesse
In 2005, Chinese automobile manufacturers made their debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show (the predecessor of the Munich Motor Show). According to public reports, Geely brought five of its models to the exhibition at that time, achieving a "zero" breakthrough for Chinese automobile brands at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Over the past 20 years, the Chinese automobile industry has advanced vigorously. On September 8, the 2025 Munich Motor Show officially opened, and the number of Chinese automobile manufacturers and suppliers participating in the exhibition reached 116.
The Munich Motor Show is a major automobile event in Europe. In this birthplace of the automobile industry, Chinese automobile brands have become a force that cannot be ignored. This year, Chinese automobile companies and brands such as BYD, GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Chery Automobile, XPeng Motors, Leapmotor, and Wenjie have participated in the exhibition, bringing their latest products and technologies.
According to a review by Times Finance, the exhibits of Chinese automobile companies mainly focus on new energy vehicles, new energy technologies, and cutting - edge technologies such as robotics and AI. For example, Leapmotor displayed its all - electric model Lafa5; Avita under Changan Automobile unveiled its concept car XPECTRA; five new energy vehicles under GAC Group made their appearance, and the official launch of AION V in Europe was announced; XPeng Motors exhibited humanoid robots, flying cars, etc.
In addition, suppliers including CATL and Momenta also participated in this year's motor show. Chinese exhibitors cover multiple fields such as the three core components of new energy vehicles and intelligent driving.
Behind the large - scale appearance of Chinese automobile companies and suppliers at the Munich Motor Show, the trend of Chinese automobiles going global remains strong, especially for new energy vehicles. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to July, China exported 3.68 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 12.8%. Among them, 1.308 million new energy vehicles were exported, a year - on - year increase of 84.6%. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said: "The export of new energy vehicles has become the driving force for the growth of automobile exports."
Accumulation and Rise
On the global automobile industry stage, Chinese automobile companies once had a period of unknown struggle. For a long time, at global automobile events such as the Munich Motor Show and the Geneva Motor Show, the spotlight still belonged to German, American, and Japanese automobile companies such as BBA, Volkswagen, Ford, and Toyota.
Looking back to 2005, at the Frankfurt Motor Show that year, Geely brought five models to the stage and also introduced Chinese traditional cultures such as Peking Opera to the event. At that time, there were very few Chinese automobiles at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and in the following sessions of the Frankfurt Motor Show, the number of Chinese automobile companies and models that appeared was also limited.
According to a report by The Paper, Brilliance Auto participated in the exhibition in 2007; Changan Automobile participated in two consecutive sessions in 2011 and 2013; no Chinese enterprises participated in 2015; until 2017, Chery Automobile and Great Wall Motor jointly attended, breaking the situation where at most one Chinese automobile company participated in the exhibition in the past 12 years.
During this period, Chinese automobile companies were still in the stage of catching up and accumulating strength.
Xiong Tianbo, the general manager of the Fangchengbao Division of BYD Group, publicly stated in May 2024: "General Manager Wang (Wang Chuanfu, the chairman of BYD) takes us to the Geneva Motor Show to learn every year. After the event, we immediately conduct on - site reviews. Under the Geneva sun, with respect for technology and a thirst for progress, we learn from the world with an open mind. That was an opportunity for the Chinese automobile industry to communicate with the world, and we drew wisdom from it."
Source: Xiong Tianbo's social platform
With the surging trend of intelligent electrification, Chinese automobile companies have made rapid progress by capitalizing on the transformation rhythm of electrification and intelligence, achieving a rapid rise and quickly standing out in the international market. The Munich Motor Show, with a history of more than 120 years, has also transformed from a traditional motor show to focus on future mobility solutions. In 2021, its venue was changed from Frankfurt to Munich. In this year, in addition to the traditional automobile company Great Wall Motor, the new Chinese automobile startups began to appear. According to a report by China News Service, XPeng Motors used the online exhibition hall of the official platform of the motor show to showcase the technologies of its entire product line; NIO, also a new startup, introduced its business development during the motor show. In September of that year, NIO entered the Norwegian market.
In 2023, more than 70 Chinese enterprises appeared at the Munich Motor Show.
At this year's motor show, the scale of Chinese exhibitors has further expanded to more than a hundred. In addition to the rapid expansion of the exhibition scale, Chinese manufacturers have demonstrated their technological strength by presenting "more than just cars" future mobility solutions.
XPeng Motors, which returned to the Munich Motor Show this year, exhibited five models, including the new XPeng P7, the 2025 XPeng G6, the 2025 XPeng G9, the XPeng X9, and the XPeng P7+. In addition, it also exhibited humanoid robots, flying cars, a land - based aircraft carrier model, and the SEPA Fuyao architecture.
"Two years ago, when we came to the Munich Motor Show, we were outside the venue, if I remember correctly," said He Xiaopeng, the chairman of XPeng Motors, in an interview. "Last year, we were the Chinese automobile company that sold the most cars priced above 40,000 euros. Now in the German market, we sell about a few hundred cars per month. I remember when we entered the German market, I thought to myself when we could reach 100 cars per month first, and then the next goal would be 1,000 cars per month."
"XPeng will make greater investments in Germany and Europe, so we are quite looking forward to it. In the coming years, you will see me come to Germany every year. I believe more Chinese enterprises will 'from China to global', I think," said He Xiaopeng.
Source: XPeng Motors
On the Leapmotor side, the new product Lafa5 made its debut at the motor show. Meanwhile, the Leapmotor B10 was officially launched in the overseas market, and European deliveries began simultaneously. In October this year, the B10 will undergo global media tests in France and is planned to enter more than 20 countries and regions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia - Pacific, and South America by the end of 2025.
At the Leapmotor press conference at the Munich Motor Show, Zhu Jiangming, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Leapmotor, said that from January to August 2025, Leapmotor's cumulative global deliveries exceeded 320,000 units, and the cumulative overseas deliveries exceeded 30,000 units.
GAC Group exhibited the all - electric SUV AION V, the AION UT, the all - electric SUV Hyper HL, the plug - in hybrid MPV Trumpchi E9, and the plug - in hybrid SUV Trumpchi GS7 PHEV at the Munich Motor Show. At the same time, GAC's first mass - produced unmanned multi - rotor flying car, the GOVY AirCab, was also on display.
Avita under Changan Automobile held a brand day in Munich on September 7 and presented the world premiere of its concept car XPECTRA. Avita plans to launch no less than five products globally by 2027.
The Middle - East versions of the Wenjie M5 and Wenjie M9 made their debuts, and the software applications of the new cars were developed for the Middle - East market.
In addition, observing the Chinese enterprises participating in this year's Munich Motor Show, a group of suppliers are actively expanding overseas.
Battery giants such as CATL and CALB also participated in this Munich Motor Show. At the Global Battery Circular Economy High - level Forum hosted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and supported by CATL, global leading enterprises in the automobile industry chain, including CATL, BMW, Mercedes - Benz, and BASF, had a joint dialogue.
In terms of intelligence, ADAS suppliers such as Horizon Robotics, Zhuoyue Technology, and Momenta participated in this Munich Motor Show. Momenta has reached cooperation agreements with more than 20 global mainstream automobile companies. Recently, the overseas versions of the IM5 (the overseas version of the Zhiji L6) and the IM6 (the overseas version of the Zhiji LS6) were officially launched in the UK. Both new cars are equipped with Momenta's Flywheel large - model ADAS system.
Zhuoyue Technology released its European strategy. It is reported that relying on its newly established German subsidiary, it will prioritize deepening cooperation with leading European automobile companies and focus on meeting the demand of European OEMs and Chinese automobile companies going global for high - cost - performance intelligent driving solutions.
Competition and Cooperation
In addition to Chinese enterprises, European automobile companies such as BBA, which are competing on their home turf, also brought multiple new cars to showcase their thinking on future mobility transformation.
The first model of BMW Group's Neue Klasse, the BMW iX3, made its debut. This car is built on BMW's new intelligent platform, with a major upgrade in the intelligent experience; the new all - electric version of the Mercedes - Benz GLC had its world premiere at the Munich Motor Show; Audi globally premiered the Audi C concept car; Volkswagen's compact all - electric SUV, the ID.CROSS concept car, completed its global debut.
Behind the competition between Chinese and European automobile companies at the same stage, the European market has become an important destination for Chinese automobiles going global. After China's total automobile exports exceeded 1 million units in 2017, they achieved rapid growth in 2021 and 2022, reaching 2.19 million and 3.4 million units respectively. Cui Dongshu, the secretary - general of the China Passenger Car Association, said: "In terms of sales volume, China's automobile exports showed a gradual recovery trend from 2017 to 2022, mainly due to the contribution of the European market."
Specifically in the field of new energy vehicles, Cui Dongshu revealed that the main export markets for new energy vehicles in 2025 are the Americas and Europe.
From January to July this year, among the top 10 countries for China's new energy vehicle exports, Belgium ranked first, with an export volume of 175,416 units. In addition, the UK ranked fifth, with an export volume of 114,309 units.
According to data from a well - known European automobile market data analysis institution cited by CCTV News, in July this year, the sales of Chinese new energy vehicles in the European market continued to maintain a strong momentum, with the sales share of all - electric vehicles reaching 9.9%. The data from this institution also showed that the market share of Chinese brands in the entire European automobile market has reached 5.3%, breaking through the 5% mark for three consecutive months.
The "meeting" of Chinese and European automobile companies at the Munich Motor Show is not only a competition in technology and products but also an opportunity for both sides to seek dialogue and cooperation.
Zhu Jiangming introduced that with the help of the mature resource system of Stellantis Group, Leapmotor has quickly completed its business layout in more than 30 countries and regions globally, with sales and service outlets exceeding 1,700.
The cooperation between XPeng Motors and Volkswagen Group has extended from all - electric vehicles to fuel - powered and plug - in hybrid vehicles. He Xiaopeng said: "I think Chinese enterprises going global should have strong partners. We chose Volkswagen, and Volkswagen chose XPeng among others. I think this is a win - win process."
Source: XPeng Motors
When asked whether the XPeng P7 can outperform BBA in Europe, He Xiaopeng first said bluntly: "I believe no car can directly answer this question." Then he added: "We come from China and are conducting R & D in Germany and Europe. We are also preparing for production and manufacturing in Europe. I think we need to learn from everyone in this market. We hope to achieve good results, but I think the most important thing is to bring good innovation, good design, and good quality to customers."
"If we satisfy customers, they will buy more of our products. If we don't do well, we will go back to lick our wounds and start over," he said.
In fact, in Europe, the birthplace of the automobile industry, the expansion path of Chinese automobile companies has not been smooth.
Li Yunfei, the general manager of BYD's brand and public relations department, said on August 17 this year: "Three years ago, our monthly sales in Germany were less than 100 units. Some foreign media were full of doubts and targeted us. But soon, we won a six - year order of 100,000 units from the international well - known rental company SIXT, which is the largest order that a Chinese automobile company has ever received in Europe."
Zhu Jiangming also mentioned that it takes a long time to obtain EU certification for a car to be sold in Europe. "Therefore, during this period, we are constantly preparing our products. On the one hand, we need to obtain more certifications. On the other hand, we need to conduct local adaptation development, collect local user needs, and make some changes to the software or hardware."
He said: "Successfully entering the global market is very challenging for Chinese automobile companies. I think this is a process from quantitative to qualitative change. This year, we basically achieved our expectations, reaching overseas sales of 50,000 to 60,000 units. We strive to double our sales in the domestic and overseas markets next year."
"We are firmly committed to in - depth development in each market. Instead of engaging in trade, we are truly establishing a presence, building brands, promoting products, and developing markets on our own, rather than using the general - agency model. We adhere to long - termism," said Zhu Jiangming.
Facing the European and even broader overseas markets, how Chinese automobiles can achieve win - win results for all parties after going global is a common issue for Chinese automobile brands. From entering the market to establishing a foothold, Chinese automobile companies still need to adhere to long - termism and use time and patience to cultivate new markets.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Times Finance APP" (ID: tf - app), written by He Qing and edited by Zhang Ze, and is published by 36Kr with authorization.