German Public Company Signs Contract for 200 BYD Electric Buses
"Questions Raised Over Adequate Consideration of Security Policy"
Perception Grows That Chinese Buses Offer High Price Competitiveness and Quality
Recently, as Chinese-made electric buses have been sweeping across Europe, security concerns have been raised after a German public company decided to purchase a large quantity of Chinese buses. According to Yonhap News on December 24 (local time), citing German broadcaster SWR, "DB Regio, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (DB), recently signed a contract to purchase 200 electric buses produced by Chinese company BYD at its Hungarian plant."
According to Yonhap News, DB Regio is the regional passenger transport subsidiary of the state-owned railway company DB and operates bus services throughout Germany. As of last year, it was known as the largest company in this sector in Germany, with 561 million annual passengers. The company plans to source 3,100 of the buses scheduled for replacement between 2027 and 2032 from MAN Truck & Bus, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, and to purchase 200 buses from BYD as well. DB Regio had previously introduced five Chinese-made electric buses in 2021.
Konstantin von Notz, Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the Green Party, stated, "Our intelligence agencies have issued clear warnings regarding the strategic actions of the Chinese leadership, especially in economic policy," and questioned, "It is doubtful whether security policy considerations were properly taken into account in the bidding and supplier selection process."
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said in a local media interview, "Excellent electric buses from Mercedes-Benz and MAN Truck & Bus have been operating in our cities for a long time," and expressed his hope for "a healthy sense of patriotism regarding our industrial base."
Recently, the market share of Chinese-made electric buses in Europe has been increasing. According to a report by Dutch financial firm Rabobank, the market share of Chinese companies such as BYD and Yutong in the European electric bus market grew from 13% in 2017 to 24% in 2023.
However, in Germany, the largest automobile manufacturing country in Europe, domestic companies such as Daimler Truck, the commercial vehicle subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, and MAN Truck & Bus under Volkswagen, have dominated the market. It is known that only a few hundred Chinese-made electric buses are currently in operation.
Nevertheless, the perception that Chinese-made electric buses are highly price-competitive and that their quality rivals that of German vehicles is spreading. Horst Bottenschein, a bus operator who recently began operating Chinese electric vehicles in Ehingen, Baden-W?rttemberg, stated, "Chinese electric buses are about 100,000 euros (approximately 170 million won) cheaper than German ones," and added, "If charged overnight, they can operate all day the next day. Chinese electric buses are also technically ahead of German ones."
In Europe, concerns have also been raised about cybersecurity risks such as hacking due to the remote control features of Chinese-made electric buses. Last month, the Associated Press reported, "Norwegian public transport operator Ruter conducted a security experiment and found that Yutong electric buses were equipped with SIM cards for remote access by the manufacturer." Yutong currently holds the top market share in the European electric bus market, and of the approximately 1,300 electric buses operating in Norway, 850 are Yutong vehicles.
It is known that these SIM cards allow for remote software updates and diagnostics, and also provide access to battery and power control systems. In theory, this means the manufacturer could stop the operation of the vehicle or render it inoperable. In response, Yutong stated, "We comply with the regulations of the regions where the buses operate, and related data is stored on AWS servers in Frankfurt, Germany," drawing a line against security concerns.
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