Chinese car manufacturers are said to be manipulating their sales figures on a large scale

China's auto industry has become a tough place for the successful German automakers . Technologically, manufacturers like BYD are way ahead in the all-important field of electric mobility, and when it comes to prices, VW and others are finding it difficult to undercut the low prices of domestic manufacturers. The result: Volkswagen's former dominance of the market has been wiped out, and BYD and others have largely displaced it.

But all these success stories obscure the fact that numerous Chinese manufacturers are fighting for survival and will likely perish in the fierce competition. In a sense, this is also a strategy of the dictatorship in Beijing: billions in subsidies for research and development as well as in the form of direct purchase premiums were used to fuel the market, enabling China's auto industry to become the global leader. But Beijing also accepted a culling process. At the end of this process, established auto giants like BYD, Chery, and Geely, and probably newcomers like XPeng and Xiaomi, will survive; but a large number of companies will also disappear again.

It wouldn't be surprising if some manufacturers resorted to tricks under pressure to meet their sales targets. As "Automobilwoche" and some US business media report , this involves a special trick that creates the illusion of more cars being sold than actually hit the road. "Car manufacturers are said to be achieving their sales targets partly through creative accounting. Now the Ministry of Commerce is getting involved," the trade publication reports. "According to trade representative Li Yanwei, China's Ministry of Commerce wants to find out whether and to what extent manufacturers are achieving their sales targets by selling new vehicles not sold to end customers via supply chain financing platforms or as zero-mileage used cars to corresponding dealers," according to "Automobilwoche."

"On used car platforms, these de facto new cars with zero mileage are allegedly traded in their thousands, and for the manufacturers, they are considered long sold by that point. Unlike in other markets, this practice is not clearly regulated in China, the magazine continues," the reports say.

While self-registration and the sale of quasi-new vehicles as daily registrations are also a form of sales promotion in the European car market, experts believe that the scale could be much greater in the Chinese market.

Achieving sales targets ultimately also plays a role on the stock market, where companies like BYD are experiencing a steep upward trend. If it turns out that many manufacturers are actually producing far beyond the actual market demand, this could trigger a backlash from the Chinese government, which is very concerned about economic stability. Experts have long expected a wave of consolidation in the Chinese auto industry, which would also see many small electric car manufacturers fall victim to large corporations.

This could be positive news for car buyers in this country, by the way. Although the EU has already attempted to counteract this with tariffs, more and more manufacturers from China are entering the market. Ultimately, this is also a reflection of domestic overproduction. Until the market consolidates, competitive prices and steep discounts are to be expected.