Episode summary
Porsche and Other Sports Car Icons Are Losing Appeal in China | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 12 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec, Emily Graffeo · Guests: Hannah Elliott
Summary
Chinese automakers and consumer preferences are reshaping what used to be a straightforward global car strategy. Hannah Elliott says foreign brands such as Porsche, Audi, BMW and Mercedes spent years orienting product lines toward China’s appetite for EVs and futuristic software, but that bet has become harder because U.S. and North American buyers have not adopted EVs at the same pace. That leaves automakers trying to satisfy two very different markets while spending billions and planning cars five to seven years ahead.
The discussion centered on why EVs have been slower to catch on in the U.S. despite visible growth. Elliott pointed to charging availability, lingering range anxiety, and the fact that buyers now see less pressure to switch because regulators have repeatedly eased EV targets and emissions standards. She also argued that consumers are creatures of habit, which makes it easier to stay with familiar gas-powered vehicles.
The story’s bigger point was about halo cars losing their old power. Elliott said EVs now deliver the speed, excitement, and technology that once justified premium sports cars, while Chinese brands like BYD, Xiaomi and others are offering high-performance vehicles at lower prices. Audi’s new sports car is an exception, but she sees the halo-car idea changing as domestic Chinese alternatives gain appeal and western brands lose ground there.
Key takeaways
- Hannah Elliott said automakers are stuck serving two large markets that want different things: China wants EVs, while the U.S. remains more cautious.
- Elliott said weak charger infrastructure and range anxiety still deter American EV adoption, especially for longer trips.
- She argued halo cars have less punch because EVs can now deliver comparable acceleration and excitement at lower prices.
- Elliott said Chinese brands such as BYD and Xiaomi are offering advanced, high-performance cars that undercut Porsche, BMW and Mercedes in China.
- On Tesla, Elliott said easing backlash against Elon Musk and high summer gas prices may be helping demand.
Notable quotes
“China uh has been for years touted as the biggest growth market, the most important growth market”
“It's completely it's an unbel it's a billions and billions of dollars worth of money spent”
“The other thing, too, is um range anxiety still is a factor”
“EVs are really fast. EVs are as fast as any Lamborghini or Ferrari”
“I would love to see cars. I want to have the best products in the world available to American consumers”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
We wanted to switch gears literally uh and talk a little bit about cars because a couple of stories by our Hannah Elliot definitely caught our attention. um foreign automakers investing heavily in China, building factories, forging partnerships to feed the country's passion uh for EVs, hoping the world's appetite would grow to match. But apparently the strategy flop.
This is what Hannah has written. She's Bloomberg Pursuit staff writer and car critic co-host of the Hot Pursuits podcast that she does. Highly recommend you check that out.
She is out there in our Bloomberg News LA bureau. Hannah, nice to have you here with Emily and me. I want to get right to it.
Things change. I feel like we go through, you know, these cycles um when it comes to the auto market and for so long we've talked about EVs and everybody leaning in. Tell us a little bit about though, first of all, what's going on in China?
Well, it's been really interesting. China uh has been for years touted as the biggest growth market, the most important growth market. every automaker basically was sort of re uh structuring their product lines to feed this China market.
Um which isn't unfounded. It it's a huge population. There's a lot of money and buying power there.
So of course uh China was looking really great and Chinese buyers love EVs. They love AI. They love really uh futuristic software.
And so a lot of automakers like Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedes all oriented their production lines toward making EVs, capturing this market. What has happened has been of course that the American market and other markets in the world have not adopted EVs at quite the same rate that the Chinese buyers have, which is a problem because America and North America is a huge market for all of these automakers, too.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- sports car demand in china
- electrification in autos
- halo cars
- audi nuvolari
- domestic alternatives in china
Companies and tickers mentioned
- VWAGY
- VLKAF
- Porsche
- Audi
- Volkswagen AG
- Lamborghini
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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