Link: https://www.irishtimes.com/special-reports/2026/10/23/the-chinese-car-revolution-is-moving-faster-than-europe-expected/

Leapmotor’s Irish boss says customers no longer ask whether Chinese cars are good enough. Instead, they’re deciding which Chinese brand to buy

Much of that growth is built on manufacturing systems that European executives are increasingly travelling to China to study.

But my Diesel car! Europeans don't drive EVs /s

What means "not expected" when EU carmakers moved technology to China? Now China have know how, have car industry (not outsourced, btw) and have gov support.

At a time where hundreds of freezers at big food stores across France got hacked resulting in the spoilage of hundred thousands (€//$) in food value, i am nervous reading statesments such as the following :

A visit to a quality check line also revealed the startling pace of change. He was told that currently 30 people work per shift completing a set of specific checks. However, by the middle of next year they will no longer be needed for these shifts “because the cars will self-drive and self-check. They’ll either go back if there are any quality issues, or they drive themselves out to the car park to be picked up by a transporter.

Another clickbaity headline serving Chinese propaganda.

In the first 9 months 2026, Volkswagen sold 2.7 million cars in Europe (+0.5%). Stellantis sold 1.5 million cars (+4.2%).

Renault, Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, and Mercedes' sales numbers are in the higher six-figure numbers between 500k and 900k.

Chery, Cheely, and BYD are the best Chinese brands in Europe, but are far behind.

From the article:

“Leapmotor is a brand that produced in 2019 about 1,400 units. This year they will produce over a million units,” he (the Leapmotor manager] says.

Leapmotor sold 87,214 cars in Europe in the first nine months 2026.

But the article tells you are story that is based exclusively about what the Leapmotor manager says.

“I am 20 years in the industry. I’ve never seen factories, production and automation like it [in China].”

This is what Jim Farley also says once or twice a year, depending how often he is invited in such a sponsored trip to China like Mr. McGrath.

He [McGrath] sees the key differences between Chinese and European carmakers “are ultimately the speed of getting the technology and the product to market. It’s unrivalled.

Yes, it's unrivalled. When a European [or other non-Chinese] carmaker wants to build in China, they need a Chinese partner that then holds the majority of the joint venture company. And, more importantly, when this Western carmaker then wants to build a new car for the domestic market, it must handover the technical specification and documentation for this car.

You can then be sure that a year or so later, there will be a car on Chinese roads that resemble very much the Westerner's model.

Oh, yeah, subsidies - for producers, not consumers - come from all over in China and are much higher than in Europe. Chinese manufacturers pay their suppliers later (8-10 months after invoicing) while European pay after several weeks. And we must mention forced labour in China ...

Hey schizoidman, it seems like you have a very good understanding of the Chinese economy. What do you think about the fact that these goods are oftentimes sold at a loss to drive the domestic production out of business and then replace them with a Chinese monopoly?

Yes, I thought the same. And this is part of the propaganda. If China does this, it is "innovating", it is "ahead". If anyone else does it, they are losing jobs.

It is noteworthy to mention that Chinese gig workers represent 44%f the country's workforce in the meantime. And the Chinese social welfare system is far behind, not in the least because Xi Jinping rejects social welfare as - in his own words - "it makes people lazy."

Corner the market, raise the price.

Pretty much every major company nowadays will operate at a loss for a period of time to drive out competition. Sometimes, they get the funding from VC, sometimes, they get it from governments.