The collapse of the German car industry should be a wake-up call for Spain

German cars have been a byword for automotive excellence for a century, engineering at the service of a global market that celebrated its precision and prestige. Today, however, the balance sheets reveal a stubborn reality: the goose that lays the golden eggs gave up long ago. Mercedes-Benz has just acknowledged 56% drop in profits for the first half of 2025, from €6.1 billion to €2.7 billion, and warns that the worst is yet to come. BMW has not been spared either: its pre-tax profit fell by a third in the second quarter, to €2.6 billion, despite messages that “everything is still under control” from management. Meanwhile, the news over at Porsche is worse: a 91% collapse in its operating profit for the second quarter, just €154 million compared to last year’s €1.7 billion.

Much of these German carmakers’ problems come from a slump in sales to China, the world’s largest automotive market. BMW sales plummeted by 13.4%, Mercedes’ by 7% and VW’s by 10% in a single year. Over the same period, sales of EVs grew by 37.6%, surpassing 3.33 million units in just six months, according to the CPCA’s data.

It would seem Germany’s carmakers are not listening to Chinese consumers, particularly young people: a car without OTA updates, seamless mobile integration and an ecosystem of digital services has no…