In the international markets, #Chinese brands now represent approximately half of all EVs sold. #CGTNEurope asked #Mercedes Benz CEO Ola Källenius if the #German automaker is looking over its shoulder at Chinese #EV companies.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 We take all competitors seriously, the ones that we know and new competitors coming.
00:07 You have to focus on your own strategy, you have to focus on delivering your brand promise.
00:11 We are present in more than 150 countries in the world and as we said, we went to China in a big way 15-20 years ago.
00:21 So we will focus on exploiting growth for Mercedes in every market.
00:25 If we look at Mercedes-Benz cars, it was actually a 73% growth of battery electric vehicles for us last year.
00:32 So very, very significant.
00:34 But we can't expect this transformation to be a straight line.
00:38 There will be peaks and troughs and many things like building up charging infrastructure or incentivization will also drive what the market does.
00:48 So in this case, we're happy that we're flexible and we're not going to be able to do that.
00:52 So in this case, we're happy that we're flexible in our plans.
00:56 We can choose to produce either battery electric vehicles or high-tech combustion vehicles.
01:02 So we will go with the market, but in terms of investments, full speed ahead with new vehicles in the pipeline.
01:11 If you're looking for the perfect combination, the perfect blend between innovation and technology,
01:18 which Mercedes-Benz has always stood for as the ultimate and first pioneer of the auto industry.
01:24 But you want to combine that with desirability, timeless elegance, iconic luxury.
01:30 It is that perfect blend that Mercedes-Benz delivers.
01:33 That's what we will focus on and try to delight customers around the world.