{
  "id": 1955307,
  "title": "Elektromobilität: Chinas Batteriemacht überrollt die deutsche Autoindustrie",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/elektromobilitat-chinas-batteriemacht-uberrollt-die-deutsche",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-19T14:39:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/automobilindustrie-chinas-batteriemacht-ueberrollt-deutsche-autoindustrie/100248349.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "The European automotive industry faces the potential loss of up to 150 billion euros in value creation to Asia in the coming years, according to a recent Deloitte study. This is primarily due to European car manufacturers' extreme dependence on Chinese and Korean batteries, battery cells, and cell precursors. Deloitte investigated the competitiveness of European companies in material extraction, cell manufacturing, and battery module assembly over the past months. \"Disconcerting is that the gap to leading Chinese firms is growing rather than shrinking,\" said Harald Proff, the main author of the study and head of Deloitte's automotive business, cited by WirtschaftsWoche. Currently, 77% of battery cells for electric vehicles are produced in Asia, up from 70% the previous year. Adding up the lost value from increasing market shares of China and Korea, imported cells and precursors, plant technology, and Asian-sent personnel shipped here, the lost value by the end of the decade is estimated to be 100-150 billion euros. To put it into perspective, the European automotive industry generates around 440 billion euros in annual revenue, with 543 billion including suppliers. Europe only owns 13% of global battery factory capacity, while North America possesses ten. However, even these 13% are not truly European: Few battery factories on European soil belong to 98% Chinese and, rarely, Korean or Japanese corporations. This means a large portion of profits leaves Europe, and significant research and development for cells takes place in Asia. The value creation loss is expected to continue expanding in the coming years. In a single year, the global production capacity for e-auto batteries has grown by 26%, increasing from around 730 to 920 gigawatt-hours (GWh) or 0.92 terawatt-hours. Conservative market analysts like S&P Global Market Intelligence or Wood Mackenzie predict that this production capacity will grow to at least 5.5 to 6.5 terawatt-hours by 2030, a fivefold increase in just four years. Even 14 terawatt-hours are announced, but not all new gigafactories will be built or constructed on time. McKinsey estimates a real demand of just under 5 terawatt-hours globally from 2030 onwards. While demand for batteries and battery cells continues to rise sharply, the relative share of Europe in production is threatened to decline further. By 2030, only about 28 million electric cars are expected to roll off the production line in Europe, requiring just under 2 terawatt-hours of battery capacity. Most production would still remain in Asian hands, leaving the European industry with a potential loss of 10.5 billion euros from missed own cell production and refinement of necessary precursors like graphite or lithium carbonate/lithium hydroxide. The growth is no longer driven solely by rising e-auto numbers. The e-auto market alone will almost double from the current 146 billion euros in 2026 to 275 billion euros in 2036, according to a recent McKinsey analysis. However, a fast-growing demand for batteries comes from the fields of commercial vehicles and stationary storage. The problem is compounded by the increasing market share of Chinese carmakers, both in the EU and numerous export markets where European and particularly German carmakers previously thrived, such as Southeast Asia and China itself. Despite the EU-imposed import tariffs on electric cars, brands like BYD, MG (SAIC), and Chery exert strong pressure on the European market. In June, Chinese firms together reached a record market share of 10.5% in the EU, up from around six percent in 2025. Deloitte's auto chief, Harald Proff, predicts a market share of 16% for Chinese firms in Europe by 2030; globally, China's market share is expected to rise to about 33% by the same year, according to Swiss bank UBS. And at its massive home market, once a seemingly endless source of cash, especially for the German premium carmakers, Chinese brands are set to expand their market share. According to AlixPartners, from 59% in 2025 to around 72% by 2030. Lack of battery competence threatens to bring additional losses in market shares for electric cars themselves, believes Deloitte's auto chief. \"The battery determines crucially the range, performance, and price of an electric car.\" If European manufacturers fail to compete technically and financially, they risk losing ground in the increasingly competitive e-auto market. Just mounting batteries is not enough. While German and French car manufacturers have made some efforts in recent years to keep up with battery technology, most projects limit themselves to research and development or the final assembly of battery modules from cells, which are still almost always produced by Asian cell manufacturers. This is not enough, as the largest portion of value creation with batteries takes place at the beginning of the value chain, in the refinement of raw lithium into battery-friendly material, or in the production of the precursor materials like cathode material. Only ten to 15% would end up at the final stage, in the assembly of the battery itself.",
  "summary": "Große Teile des profitablen Autogeschäfts drohen in den kommenden Jahren nach China abzufließen. Auch weil hiesige Autobauer bei Batterien geschlafen haben.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}