Skip to playerSkip to main content
DW (English)
  • 1 day ago
For decades, German cars symbolized engineering perfection and economic power. Now, sales are plunging, as China, their biggest market, has gone electric. Can India fill the gap left by China?
Transcript
00:00Can India save the German automotive industry?
00:03India has almost 1.5 billion inhabitants and it has become the world's third largest car market
00:10after China and the U.S.
00:12But for German car manufacturers, the Indian market is anything but easy.
00:17We are in downtown Chennai, a city with 6.5 million inhabitants.
00:22It's rush hour and we see a lot of cars on the streets, but there is hardly any German car.
00:28Volkswagen, Germany's biggest car maker, has a market share of only 2%.
00:34Domestic and Asian brands dominate the roads.
00:37For German car makers, India could be a beacon of hope because their sales are shrinking elsewhere,
00:43especially in China, their most important market.
00:47Most German brands now operate factories in India and are preparing for a long-term future here.
00:53India is a new hope, but it will not grow as fast as we have experienced in China 20 years back.
01:00At its only plant in India, BMW produces up to 80 cars a day.
01:05By comparison, at the Dingolfing plant near Munich, its biggest worldwide, it's around 1,400 per day.
01:13So the numbers in India are still small.
01:16But what is important for BMW is that they are growing fast, by more than 10% a year.
01:22What do you think?
01:24Why do German car makers struggle in India?
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended

Can North America launch its own electric car revolution?
DW (English)
2 years ago
Can German carmakers survive the EV shakeup?
DW (English)
2 months ago
Is China’s EV Boom Dooming Legacy Car Brands?
AlArabiya English
5 months ago
BIZ: German cars dominate India's luxury market
DW (English)
11 months ago
Germany´s car industry on the brink?
DW (English)
3 months ago
US tariffs pile pressure on German carmakers
DW (English)
3 months ago
India's electric car boom: What's fuelling the soaring popularity of EVs?
euronews (in English)
2 years ago
China's BYD outsells Tesla and other carmakers as it eyes becoming Europe's biggest EV player
euronews (in English)
2 years ago
More job cuts on the way as German economy struggles to recover
euronews (in English)
1 year ago
Is the German car industry back on top?
DW (English)
3 months ago
‘Overtaking on a bend’: how China’s EV industry charged ahead to dominate the global market
South China Morning Post
2 years ago
India woos Tesla with offer of cheaper production costs than China
NewsNation
5 years ago
Can Germany's steel industry survive a deepening cost crisis?
DW (English)
7 weeks ago
GM-Wuling tiny car overtakes Tesla to lead China's EV market
Al Jazeera English
5 years ago
Germany’s auto industry prepares for job losses in electric transition
euronews (in English)
1 year ago
Is Tesla Coming To India Anytime Soon?
Brut India
4 years ago
China Luxury Auto Slump
Benzinga
2 weeks ago
Auto industry seeks tech solutions to cut China's materials dominance
DW (English)
3 months ago
China's renewable energy pitch to Africa: Too much power?
DW (English)
1 year ago
New Perlis MB pledges to maintain unity among state Perikatan assemblymen
The Star
4 hours ago
Kuala Perlis rep Abu Bakar Hamzah sworn in as new Perlis MB
The Star
8 hours ago
Travel chaos in US Northeast, over 9,000 flights cancelled due to winter storm
The Star
8 hours ago
Is Zimbabwe gambling with foreign investors' confidence?
DW (English)
2 days ago
Lagos on the fast lane: Nigeria’s thriving racing culture
DW (English)
2 days ago
2025 — the year AI got personal
DW (English)
3 days ago