China’s growth has shaken the automotive industry, especially the market that works with electric mobility. The surprising increase in sales is, however, clogging Belgian ports, which are overflowing with Chinese electric cars, according to reports.
Sales of Chinese cars have increased surprisingly and the country's results have prompted changes, especially in terms of strategy and commercial approach. Although China seeks to conquer the European electric car market, it does not seem to be able to “release” the units produced.
After all, according to Le Monde, China's excess production capacity is flooding the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, in Belgium.
This morning, as the sun unexpectedly illuminated the maze of highways leading to this remote arm of the port of Antwerp, Belgium, a huge freighter from the Norwegian company Höegh Autoliners unloaded thousands of cars at one of the International Car Operators (ICO) terminals, a subsidiary of the Japanese group Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
He started by telling Le Monde.
As he recalled, together with Swedish-Norwegian Wallenius Wilhelmsen, this is one of the main operators of the port of Antwerp-Bruges, the largest automobile port in the world, through which the production of around 40 brands transited. At least, until the appearance of Chinese competitors.
Chinese cars, particularly electric cars, clog European ports
In Calloo, near Antwerp, and in Zeebrugge, on the North Sea coast, huge car parks can accommodate around 130,000 vehicles. However, the space is getting smaller and there is not enough space to serve as a parking lot.
This is because cars from all brands come together, before finally being loaded onto trucks from Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland and Germany. Models that are still unknown to the general public often accumulate.
As mentioned by Le Monde, in 2022, 3.4 million vehicles passed through the two ports. Since then, market evolution and the emergence of new challenges have forced operators to adapt, solving the problem of storing incoming vehicles.
They are all Chinese. I prefer German cars.
grumbled Rinus De Vries, a Dutch truck driver, quoted by the French newspaper.
Regarding this problem, Quartz also reported that European ports are becoming real parking lots, as manufacturers face the slowdown in sales of electric cars, as well as dealing with the logistics of managing unsold vehicles and new.
According to industry experts, cited by the same media outlet, some Chinese electric car brands have already parked their units in European ports for more than 18 months.
In addition to these, a logistics specialist also told Quartz that many of the cars left at the ports “are simply there” until they are sold, that is, they do not arrive with a defined destination.
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