Cutting ties with China would put most of Germany’s industry at risk, Ola Kallenius, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz warned, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag on April 30 after returning from a business trip to China, the German manufacturer’s largest and the most important market.
“The major players in the global economy – Europe, the USA, and China – are so closely intertwined that disengaging from China makes no sense,” Kaellenius said. “Decoupling from China is an illusion, and also not desirable,” he added.
China has the largest car market in the world, and German carmakers are heavily dependent on it. Mercedes-Benz’s main shareholders are the Chinese BAIC Group and Geely Chairman Li Shufu. In 2022, China accounted for 18% of revenues and 37% of car sales at Mercedes-Benz, according to Reuters.
