Chinese manufacturers are signing up in force for the IAA Mobility show, with Chinese companies now accounting for more than a quarter of registered exhibitors, the organisers said, according to a November 14 report by Xinhua's Reference News citing German news agency DPA. The next edition is scheduled for September 2027 in Munich.
Ten months before the show opens, 166 companies have registered, 58% more than at the same point two years earlier; the 45 Chinese exhibitors registered so far include BYD, Xiaomi, Xpeng, Geely, SAIC and Leapmotor, and Geely's Zeekr and Polestar will also take part.
The Financial Times reported the same day that Herbert Eibensteiner, chief executive of Austrian steelmaker voestalpine, said Chinese carmakers entering Europe would provide a way forward for steel companies hit by falling domestic car production; about a third of voestalpine's revenue comes from the automotive industry. As the EU restricts imports, Chinese carmakers are shifting some production into the bloc, and BYD's plant in Hungary is seen by the company as a "logical new customer". European automakers' association data show European vehicle output at about 12 million units a year, below 15 million in 2017.