China's Thirst for Technology Shifts Priorities in the Automotive Market

Ryan Xu, an entrepreneur from Guangdong, once embodied the ideal customer for German car manufacturers. Together with her husband, she owns both a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, and was among the first buyers of the electric Porsche Taycan. However, her views on German vehicles have changed, as Chinese consumers increasingly value technological sophistication, pushing traditional selling points like horsepower and driving dynamics into the background. Xu describes the software in the Taycan, which costs well over $100,000, as "terrible." For the 36-year-old mother of three, the car is just an "electrified Porsche—and that's it.