Thousands of imported vehicles are currently stored in various seaports in Europe, many of them coming from China.
According to “Automobilwoche”, several manufacturers have leased large spaces near the main European ports to store vehicles for which they do not yet have customers.
“This situation currently affects all European ports where large numbers of vehicles arrive,” said Gert Ickx, spokesperson for the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, to Automobilwoche.
Compounding the situation are several factors, including a decline in sales. “There is also a lack of capacity for carriers to transport new cars via heavy vehicles,” added Gert Ickx.
The situation reported by Automobilwoche was recently confirmed to the “Financial Times” by the Secretary-General of the China Passenger Car Association, Cui Dongshu, who revealed that it has been difficult for Chinese car manufacturers to book land transport within Europe.
According to supply chain experts and automotive industry executives quoted by the Financial Times, Chinese car manufacturers are not selling their products as quickly as they hoped, leading to some cars being parked in these parks near major European ports for a long time.
This situation at European ports comes at a time when Chinese car manufacturers, such as BYD, XPeng, and SAIC, have decided to increase their exports to Europe in an effort to keep their factories running and meet the demand for low-cost electric vehicles in the European market.
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