China’s EV competition is so fierce that Volkswagen ‘cannot keep up’ and should avoid ‘utopian expectations,’ says CEO

News Snapshot:

Competing against Chinese electric vehicles in China is no easy task. Just ask the CEO of Volkswagen. The German automaker "cannot keep up at the top of the table at the moment” in China’s EV sector, VW chief Oliver Blume told FAZ in a Friday interview. VW had long been China’s best-selling automotive brand, but last year it was overtaken by Chinese rival BYD, which sells both EVs and plug-in hybrids but no longer produces traditional cars. BYD, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, also beat Tesla for the first time in global sales of electric vehicles in the fourth...