Further growth expected for auto industry

Great opportunities

There are great opportunities for Germany to continue participating in deeper cooperation with China in the coming years.

German suppliers have been involved right from the outset as the German passenger vehicle manufacturers established high levels of activity in China. Indeed, they were one factor that made this possible. They too were present in China early on. All the major German suppliers are active in China.

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In the past few years, medium-sized firms have also been increasingly active. Their customers include - alongside the German brands - many international and Chinese automakers.

The number of assembly plants of German suppliers in China has grown by more than one third in recent years, to more than 200 sites. The number of employees of German suppliers has increased by 15 percent to more than 70,000.

China is also becoming more and more important to Germany as a supply location. In 2013 exports of parts and accessories from Germany to China had a value of 7.4 billion euros. That represented a rise of 11 per cent from the previous year.

The German Association of the Automotive Industry, or VDA, makes an important contribution.

The German pavilion at the Shanghai Auto Show every two years offers additional suppliers the opportunity to establish and expand activities in China.

About 30 of our medium-sized companies used these opportunities at the trade show in 2013. Most of them already have their own production facilities in China, some of them in joint ventures or in subsidiaries. They want to continue investing. This all shows that this market offers enormous potential to medium-sized suppliers in particular. We at the VDA are delighted to be supporting these commitments.