Model on the brink

German manufacturers hit so hard by punitive tariffs

The Mini Aceman is threatened with a punitive tariff of 38.1 percent.

(Bild: AFP/WANG Zhao)

The EU wants to protect European industry and is therefore planning punitive tariffs on imports from China. However, German car manufacturers in particular are not enthusiastic. The reason: they have their own production facilities there and are suffering massively as a result.

60 percent of all car imports come from Western companies, i.e. Tesla and European manufacturers. The Chinese are therefore less affected overall.

"Punitive tariffs would be the stupidest thing the EU could do," said KTM boss Stefan Pierer. "We are shooting ourselves in the foot," said BMW CEO Oliver Zipse. His company imports two models exclusively from China, with one model facing a total tariff surcharge of almost 50 percent!

Background: The EU has published a list of Chinese car manufacturers that shows who is cooperating in the anti-dumping investigation. The amount of the duty depends on this, which will be added to the already mandatory ten percent.

Mini and Cupra hit particularly hard
Two Mini brand vehicles would be subject to a total rate of 48.1 percent: Mini Cooper and Mini Aceman have been built by as part of the Spotlight joint venture with Great Wall Motor since the beginning of the year. Mini is missing from the list. The surcharge would also be difficult for BMW to bear in the small car segment, where margins are lower anyway.

The BMW iX3 is also built in China for Europe.

(Bild: Stephan Schätzl)

Another model from the Munich-based company that comes exclusively from China is the BMW iX3. It is produced in Shenyang, but only an additional 21.6 percent is due. And only until 2025 - from next year, the iX3 will be replaced by the "New Class", which will be manufactured in Hungary.

Cupra also has to pay the maximum penalty (or the maximum rate) of 38.1 percent extra for the latest addition to the Volkswagen Group's electric furnace, the Tavascan. The four-door coupé rolls off the production line in Anhui as part of the joint venture "Volkswagen (Anhui)Automotive Company Limited".

The same fate could befall Smart, which is owned equally by Mercedes-Benz and Geely. As both companies have not yet commented and Geely is not on the list, a 38.1 percent punitive tariff can be assumed.

Tesla has already held out the prospect of price increases for its best-selling Model 3 due to the threat of EU punitive tariffs. Tesla did not initially provide any information on the extent of the surcharge. Tesla builds the Model Y compact SUV based on the Model 3 at its first European plant in Grünheide near Berlin. Meanwhile, the Model 3 - the cheapest Tesla vehicle to date - is delivered from the Chinese factory in Shanghai. The punitive tariff rate for Tesla is said to be 21 percent.

BYD will be subject to an import duty of 17.4 percent, while Geely (Volvo, Polestar) will have to pay 20 percent.