30 November

Again, look to China for where we’ll be going next. Car dealerships from legacy Western brands in China, like BMW, Mercedes etc are closing in their thousands. 2000 per year in 2021, 2022 and 2023. 4000 in 2024. That’s 10,000 dealerships closed, in the past 4 years. 17,000 of the remaining dealerships are losing at least half a million dollars per year (which is huge, as dealerships tend to be smaller in China). The home companies have been pumping hundreds of millions into the dealerships to try to keep them afloat. It hasn’t worked. And why? Because nobody in China wants a petrol or diesel car now. They’re an embarrassment. The only Western carmaker doing good business in China now is Tesla. For many legacy Western carmakers, this is also potentially their end. They sold 50% or more of their cars, to China. Not any more.