for three weeks and during his time there, was asked about how the current political climate in the country could impact the brand moving forward. According to Kallenius, it would be very difficult to decouple from China were it to invade Taiwan, even though Mercedes-Benz and many other brands left Russia after the escalation of its war against Ukraine.
“The major players in the world economy, Europe, the USA and China, are so closely intertwined that decoupling from China makes no sense,” he said when asked about a Chinese attack on Taiwan. “It’s about win-win in terms of growth and climate protection, not about competing against each other. We are not naive. Of course, we see the political differences and tensions [between China and Taiwan].
China is a hugely important market for Mercedes-Benz and last year, accounted for 37% of the brand’s total sales and 18% of its revenue. Kallenius noted that there are some areas where Chinese car manufacturers have an advantage over some of Germany’s legacy automakers.. “Entertainment electronics in cars has not played the most important role for German customers so far. Chinese customers, on the other hand, attach great importance to this. An example: karaoke in the car.