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.
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.