Mikko Huotari, Director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics) in Berlin, has warned Volkswagen against importing vehicles built in China into Germany or offering its German plant capacity to Chinese car manufacturers. These suggestions were recently put forth by VW CEO Blume as a response to the company’s ongoing crisis. Huotari described this approach as a highly risky gamble.
The internationally renowned China expert argues that vehicles produced by VW in China, either alone or through joint ventures, gain a competitive edge because they benefit from a system of state control and subsidies, and are manufactured under working conditions that are unacceptable in Germany. While this strategy might yield short- or medium-term benefits for VW, Huotari cautions that it creates imported price and competitive pressure within the German economy. This pressure is tied not only to innovations but also to unfair competitive and labor conditions-standards the German model does not wish to replicate. Such practices run contrary to the fundamental principles of a social market economy and should not be normalized.
Furthermore, Huotari pointed out that Israeli and Canadian defense companies have offered to utilize potentially underused production capacity at VW in Germany. He questioned whether it would not be strategically far better, from a geostrategy perspective, to accept such an offer rather than opening the doors to China, which is considered a strategic rival.
