Auto sector insiders eye complementary strengths of China, Germany

China and Germany are well-positioned to pursue extensive cooperation in the automotive sector due to their complementary supply chain strengths, according to business watchers at the 2025 IAA Mobility, one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs, held in Munich.

Industry insiders at the exhibition believe that Chinese companies are emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the field of automotive intelligence, leveraging their research and development capabilities as well as accumulated data.

"China is kind of leading in terms of the software and the adoption potential is the usage of the software because of the high performance of the software-driven (sectors), because of the fast deployment circles in the software. This shows the potential of the Chinese companies in Europe, coming together with the provided data platforms, which they have and which are always already deployed and which are in operation, and this is, I would say, the magnificent point in the usage of software in Europe," said Lucas Bablitz, the Autonomous Driving Technology project director for Germany's P3 Group.

On the auto show floor, many new models exhibited by European countries feature batteries and intelligent driving technologies sourced from China.

Yet, according to professionals at the show, cooperation between multiple European multinational automakers and Chinese enterprises has already extended beyond technology sharing to encompass whole supply chains and production processes.

"I think the biggest highlight is really this close collaboration between China and Germany. I think that you see it today here at IAA, I think there's a very, very strong demand for intelligent vehicles, both combustion engine and also electric vehicles. And I think this is where we are unique, we can work with electric vehicles, we can work with combustion vehicles. But nevertheless, the trend is immense," said Nils Oldemeyer, European regional manager for a Chinese auto company.

Robin Schmid, host of the YouTube automotive review channel Robin TV, agreed that China-Europe cooperation in the auto sector holds promising prospects.

"I think there's strength on both sides in Europe and also in China. And the best is, if both worlds combine their strength, I think the future will be very bright and innovative for everybody," he said.

The 6-day event, which will conclude on Sunday, has attracted around 750 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions, according to organizers.

China accounts for the largest share of foreign participants, with 116 companies taking part, including EV makers BYD, Xpeng, and Leapmotor, battery giant CATL, and tech firms DeepRoute.ai and Zhuoyu.