fear and trembling on the wharves of Ajaccio. This summer, we will roll chinese on the winding roads of the island of Beauty. And electric to the edge of one of the 500 Aiways made available by the car rental company Hertz, which has not had to pay very expensive. Taking advantage of a european market released KB standing of the coronavirus and already shaken by the standards CO2 killing slowly but surely the cars with internal combustion engines, both automotive brands in the chinese have just announced, in rapid succession, their debut in Europe. Rebattues by the legislature, the maps of the area place a red carpet in this mini-foray that could announce the coming invasion. A Trojan horse, as a test of rejecting the grand corps malade european.

The start-up chinese Aiways will be in July, the first to deliver cars in Europe. After coming by road from China (15 000 km in 53 days) as a prelude to the Frankfurt motor show, which was last autumn, finally canceled, this imposing 4x4 recreational (SUV), inspired from the Volvo and Peugeot, with a design very current, perfectly illustrates the chinese strategy. Unable to equal the productions of thermal european in an area where they were distant followers, the electrical technology and offers them the opportunity to exist, but also to take the upper hand.

Representatives of the new mobility, they take the opportunity provided by the policies. Instead of designating only a remediation goal to be achieved, they have set the means to achieve it (all-electric), depriving the builders of creativity on other routes. Fully electric and connected, Aiways U5 will be used for rental agency Hertz, enough to provide a first experience of larp. Some 500 units of its model U5 will be transported to Corsica, and proposed to the tourists this summer who will have to be wary of the mountain, the 111 terminals referenced are located rather on the coasts.

Play of track to find one of the 111 terminals corsican, and reload Aiways rental. © Aiways

With the U5, presented last year at the Geneva motor show, Aiways intends to compete with vehicles of large established brands, following the example of the american Tesla, but with the discounted rates. "We manufacture a vehicle like the Audi e-tron, but for half the price," said to the AFP Alexander Klose, vice-president of the international.

Aiways, the chinese 100 % electric, landed in Corsica © AiwaysChinoise ? Not really if one is to judge by appearances futuristic this interior Aiways. © Aiways

The young shoot, which was founded in 2017, joined the services of Roland Gumpert, creator of the German the Audi Quattro, the star of the rallies in the 1980s. Its factory in Shangrao (north-east of China) it provides a foundation of low-cost production, for an initial capacity of 150,000 units which will, if necessary, be doubled.

Aiways, which aims a few thousands of annual deliveries in Europe, has opened orders in Germany and Norway in the spring. Will follow in the fall of Denmark, France, the netherlands and Switzerland. Its a family car with 5 seats and a range of over 400 kilometers, is proposed between 35 000 and 40 000 euros.

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"No doubt there is a distrust of chinese products," acknowledges Mr. Klose, " but look at the mobile phones used in Europe today, the vast majority is manufactured in China." The start-up intends to sell its products on the Internet, relying on local distributors to try out the vehicles.

from this angle, the Aiways U5 reminds us of a certain Peugeot 5008 © Aiways

Renault warning on the Tsunami chinese

in Early may, another chinese group, BYD (Build Your Dreams) has announced that it will be available this year an SUV's power in Norway, with the ambition to extend to other european countries. Little is known on the Old Continent, BYD, however, is one of the global leaders in electric vehicle thanks to its huge domestic market. It was originally a simple specialist of the batteries, a field in which he has acquired a know-how crucial.

Byd Tang, an electric and yet with a false grille giant © Byd

On the market of electric buses, the group has won large tenders in Europe and built two factories, in Hungary and in France (Beauvais, in the Oise). Backed by the largest automobile market in the world, the chinese manufacturers were so far virtually absent in Europe, even if conglomerates of the Middle empire control of european brands, including Geely with Volvo.

manufacturers established fear of these new players, after having for years transferred their know-how by building factories in China. The president of Renault, Jean-Dominique Senard, has several times warned against a "tsunami of chinese" imminent. On the tire market, the share of chinese brands in Europe has increased from 5 % to 30 % in only six years, between 2012 and 2018. "In the automotive industry, are we waiting now to something that might be equivalent ", warns the former boss of the Michelin.

The arrival in Europe of the first cars the chinese comes at a time when entering into force of the environmental standards, draconian, including a limit of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre, which is forcing manufacturers to electrify the Aiways, the chinese 100 % electric landed in Corsica range by forced marches. Objective : to reduce air pollution and global warming.

Aiways, the chinese, has even designed a robot recharge for areas that are deprived of terminals. © Nena JaegersbergerNJP / Aiways

China has adopted very soon a powerful stream of batteries, a component that represents one-third of the value of electric cars. With the heralded end of the heat engine is the main barrier that protected the manufacturers historical, at the time when they are weakened by the collapse of the market linked to the pandemic of Covid-19.

" In the electric mobility, there is a reopening of the market. Finally, the historic brands are left having to prove their relevance, " says Guillaume Crunelle, head of automotive at the firm Deloitte. According to him, " a chinese industry which today knows how to make cars, that has a legitimacy and an integrated value chain on the farm must be regarded with very great seriousness ".