A top Volkswagen China executive criticized using tariffs against free trade and pointed to the solid fundamentals in the Chinese market as the 2025 Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, or Auto Shanghai, kicks off on Wednesday.
Stefan Mecha, CEO of Volkswagen China Passenger Cars Brand, pointed out that tariff is not the correct answer to "free trade, good exchanges, and open market" in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Shanghai on the sidelines of Auto Shanghai.
"What we advocate as a global company is fair trade, open trade, open markets, rule-based systems. So, we really hope that we'll get back to a truly globalized economy. Tariff is not the answer to free trade and to good exchange and open market," he said.
Mecha said he is upbeat about the potential of the huge Chinese market, noting that its fundamentals are still solid.
"In the first quarter, if you just look at the numbers, automotive sales have grown year on year, passenger cars by around five percent, so over five million cars in the total market. So this first of all speaks for itself. So the market is growing. Now when you look into the GDP of the first quarter and also in China, 5.4 percent for such a sizable economy. We truly believe that we are here in a good spot because the market is growing, consumption is still strong and what we really see the Chinese market, that the government has put very decisive measures on the road and to support consumption and this helps us in the automotive industry big time. So I think from this end, the overall circumstances in a very difficult environment, we know this also in our industry, I would say from the macroeconomic factors are still very solid and very good," he said.
Volkswagen China top executive criticizes using tariffs against free trade
