Full ecosystems

Localization today goes far beyond manufacturing.

XPeng announced in January that it plans to establish an independent European supply chain team, following the opening of its Munich R&D center in September 2025.

Together with production in Austria, the company has formed a closed-loop "R&D plus manufacturing" European strategy.

BYD established its European headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, in 2025. The 250 million euro facility integrates sales, after-sales services, vehicle certification and localized design.

It has also committed to joint research projects with Hungarian universities, focusing on intelligent driving assistance and next-generation electrification technologies.

Leapmotor is leveraging Stellantis' European R&D resources to adapt vehicles to local regulations and user preferences.

Changan has built three facilities in Europe alone: a design center in Italy's Turin, a power train center in the UK's Birmingham and another design center for its premium Avatr brand.

Staffed with around 500 local designers across Europe, Changan said it believes it can provide the best products for European customers.

"One of our recipes for success is to establish a deep relationship with customers, understand their needs and invest in the user experience,"Klaus Zyciora, vice-president at Changan Automobile and head of the group's global design.

"Our team, consisting of more than 31 nationalities, will create experiences and products that deeply resonate with customers," said Zyciora, former design head at Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen AG.

Automotive globalization has reached a structural turning point: It is defined by how deeply companies integrate into local economies, how they participate in industrial upgrading and how effectively they help reshape global production.

Bearing that in mind will be crucial to any Chinese carmaker that is not content with the size of the market in China, said Zhang at China EV 100.

"For China's automakers, going global now increasingly means becoming local — and becoming part of the global automotive solution," he said.