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Paris: The low-cost vehicles were absent, and the medium or even high-quality vehicles equipped with advanced technologies were overshadowed by the products unveiled by the Chinese car manufacturers who are present at the Mondial de Lotomobile World Fair in Paris, aiming to conquer the European market, which is becoming more and more dependent.
The most prominent Chinese companies, such as BYD, Great Wall Motors and Ceres, were present on the first day of the Paris exhibition on Monday, unlike many of the historical companies operating in the sector, with the exception of the French ones.
“It’s a popular auto show in the heart of Europe. We’re here to grab the public’s attention,” said BYD Europe spokesman Mike Pellenfante.
In an official ceremony, the Chinese company on Monday handed over car keys to its first French customers at its booth.
BYD displays three models in the Paris Mondial, including two luxury cars, “Han” and “Tang”, and the price of each of these two cars is more than 70,000 dollars. The company seeks to consolidate its presence throughout Europe, and not be satisfied with the north of the continent (Scandinavia, Belgium, the Netherlands…), where its presence is currently concentrated.
“We’re competing thanks to technology, not price,” said Mike Bellenfante.
BYD already has extensive experience in the car battery industry, including a more compact model that is less likely to catch fire in the event of damage, according to the manufacturer. This innovation aroused the interest of “Toyota”, which equipped some of its vehicles.
No sales target has been set, Pellenfante emphasized, as “what matters is creating our brand image”. The domestic market remains a priority for the company, which last month sold 200,000 cars in China.
As for “Ceres”, owned by the giant Chinese company “Dongfeng”, it presented two vehicles intended for the European market, one of them “Ceres 3” and the second “SF5”, which will be approved at the end of 2022.
The “Series 3”, an electric SUV for cities, is sold at a price of 33,990 euros, which “is not a low price, but is in line with market prices”, said Thomas Misnil, marketing director of the company responsible for importing the cars “Series”.
Misnil hopes to provide 70 points of sale for “Series” vehicles by the end of the year in France, which the company has chosen as a starting point for its cars in Europe, noting that the goal is to sell about 1,500 cars in 2023.
Another brand distributed by his company, “Yves France” in France, is “Leap Motor”, which is considered one of the newest in the Chinese auto industry, as it was established in 2016. The company now sells ten thousand cars per month in China, which is a large sales volume for a startup company .
The company introduced in the French market the electric car T03 dedicated to the cities that it also displays in the “Paris Mondial”, and its price is less than 20 thousand euros after deducting the “environmental reward” of seven thousand euros.
Another new car model in France and more broadly in Europe is “Great Wall Motors” (GWM), and the manufacturer has a large booth in the exhibition to highlight its models dedicated to the old continent.
Great Wall Motors Europe president Henri Myung described the Paris Motor Show as a “perfect opportunity”. This company, which has 40 years of experience in the sector, including ten years in the field of electric and hybrid cars, started sales in Germany on Monday with the hybrid SUV “We Coffee 01” for 55,900 euros, and it is expected to be launched on the French market from 2023.
The keen interest of banks and their proprietary leasing services in Asian auto products reflects the growing importance of the companies that manufacture them.
The auto service divisions of these banks are forging partnerships with several Asian brands, as did France’s Credit Agricole with China’s Always and Vietnam’s Finfast to boost their offerings.