The Last Multinational Standing?

Germany, China and the global EV race. |  |   
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#### Weekly newsletter | December 15th, 2024  
  
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|  **Good evening.  **What’s the most interesting multinational company in the world right now? Our cover story this week makes a good case for Volkswagen, which is doubling down on China at the exact moment most other foreign automakers are cutting their losses. Only time will tell if the automaker’s China strategy will succeed, but in the meantime, it sure is fun to follow its maverick approach. Elsewhere, we have infographics on the Chinese car companies that are still hoping to enter U.S. markets; an interview with Shirley Kan on 45 Years of the Taiwan Relations Act; a reported piece on China’s industrial robot revolution; and an op-ed from Noah Barkin on Angela Merkel’s blind spot on China. If you’re not already a paid subscriber to _The Wire_ , please sign up here. _Was this email forwarded to you?_ Sign up to receive our free newsletter.  
  
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_Illustration by  Pete Ryan_  
|  **Last Multinational Standing?** VW has invested over $13 billion in China in the past six years. That is four times more than Japan’s Toyota and eleven times more than America’s GM. But with cratering market share in China, EU tariffs eating into its Chinese production base, and Chinese competitors nipping at its heels at home, the question facing Volkswagen is increasingly existential: Can the German automaker survive in China and still thrive at home? Luke Patey reports.  
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A NIO ES6 electric vehicle on display outside Nio’s North American headquarters and Innovation Center in San Jose, California, September 9, 2019. _Credit: Sundry Photography via  Adobe Stock_  
|  **The Big Picture: Could Chinese Cars Still Enter the United States?** Some Chinese car companies are still hoping to enter U.S. markets, despite proposed restrictions that are thought to be a fatal blow to their global ambitions. Noah Berman reports.  
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### **A Q &A with Shirley Kan**

Shirley Kan is an independent analyst and former Asia specialist at the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. She is an expert on the Taiwan Relations Act, which has been the lodestar guiding U.S. relations with Taiwan for 45 years. Congress passed the legislation in April 1979, four months after President Jimmy Carter switched U.S. diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China from the Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan. The law has been a touchpoint for every president since. In this week’s interview with Noah Berman, she talks about the fears now mounting that China could try to take Taiwan by force; what the Taiwan Relations Act actually requires of the United States; and if it is still sufficient to maintain peace in East Asia. Shirley Kan  
_Illustration  by Kate Copeland_  
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The Estun 6-axis robot arm on display during the World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference in Nanjing, December 6, 2023. _Credit: VCG via  Getty Images_  
|  **Chinese Robots Hit the Factory Floor** Chinese industrial robot makers have succeeded in taking a bigger share of the domestic market. Can they compete globally? Rachel Cheung reports.  
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Then German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing, China, May 24, 2018. _Credit: Michael Kappeler via  AP Images_  
|  **Angela Merkel’s Blind Spot on China** The former German chancellor pursued ever closer economic ties between Germany, the EU and China while in office. But in her new memoir, Noah Barkin argues that she glosses over many inconvenient truths about the consequences of her approach.  
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