Interested, what are the companies that have not prepared for electric in Germany and which have?
I don't really see that many Teslas here in the UK, but maybe as a percentage of new cars sold the number is quite high (and I'm sure it's a lot higher in London).
Opel and BMW are lagging quite a bit. IMHO their current strategy has them on a path where they won't survive the transition. Too little too late basically.
Daimler has a few expensive models on the market but is not really selling those in large volume. Their recently announced cars seem nice though and their focus on the luxury segment and brand actually makes a lot of sense. And since they are not about high volume sales and selling at a premium, they can get away with cost disadvantages more easily.
The ones that are in better shape are all associated with the Volkswagen group (Porsche, Audi, VW itself) thanks to VW having gotten aggressive on this topic a bit earlier (courtesy of Diesel gate). And even those still have some catching up to do.
IMHO the real issue for these manufacturers is not even Tesla but the coming influx of cheap Chinese imports. So far, manufacturers have been able to pretend it's all about the luxury segment and sell a few EVs at a premium (typically above their ICE pricing). Once EV prices dip below 20K euro, it's a different game. That might happen in 2022 already. Chinese manufacturers have a lot of very interesting EVs already on the roads in China that are being produced in volume. Exporting those to the US and Europe is more a question of when than if.
It's a repeat of what happened when Japanese cars started competing in the 1980s. It forced everybody else to up their game. This time around, the required changes are more disruptive. Everything from supply chain management, car design, software development, sales, etc. is in need of change. It's about cost and margins. The question is not whether manufacturers can produce EVs but whether they can do so at the right price point and still make a profit. What's on the market right now is a bit challenged on that front. Except for a handful of manufacturers.
Opel is the first one that comes to my mind. They've only introduced their first electric models last year, still no electric versions of their more popular models (Astra or Insignia).
Opel had their first electric car years back, when they were still part of GM. The GM Volt is the very same car as the Opel Ampera.
Before that came out, internally they developed their own version of an electric car, but were not allowed by GM to bring it to light and had to resell the GM version.
Sure, on paper. Their HQ is still in Germany, they use German name, and more than half of its workforce is in Germany. Being a subsidiary of a French company doesn't make them not German.
Opel is not really anymore German. Opel is just re-selling cars from PSA like Seat/Skoda is re-selling cars from VW. With the distinction that Seat/Skoda has much more freedom on production decisions and personalization decisions that Opel has. I have many engineering friends who left Opel because of this. Opel is much more dependent as it ever was with GM.
Opel are a part of PSA, now a part of Stellantis. The whole bunch is a but late to the electric party, but they're working on it, it's not like they've refused, it's just taking time.
I don't really see that many Teslas here in the UK, but maybe as a percentage of new cars sold the number is quite high (and I'm sure it's a lot higher in London).