Currently reading: EVs and China-led tech shift troubling premium brands

Mainstream and Chinese brands' adoption of new tech and electric drivetrains poses trouble for premium giants

Porsche’s recent retreat back into the familiar realm of combustion engines raised a question that has been increasingly troubling European car makers: what does premium stand for in an electrified, digital age?

For many automotive planners at the beginning of this decade, electrification was going to be the springboard into a high-tech future where premium customers would pay more for electric rocketships gilded with digital delights.

However, since those heady days of 2021-2022, the pace in that arena hasn't been set by the high-end European brands but by mainstream Chinese brands, who are selling the dream for a whole lot less.   

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