PEKING (dpa-AFX) - Mercedes boss Ola Källenius is confident about the tough competition on the Chinese car market. "We are not standing still," the CEO of the Dax Group told journalists at the auto show in Beijing on Thursday. "China speed is Swabian speed," he said in reference to the rapid technical development in China.

In addition to Beijing, Mercedes has another development center in Shanghai, which is part of the global network. "These people don't work here like a satellite and only do "in China for China"," explained the manager. "They work hand in hand with the developers who are based in Sindelfingen, but also in Tel Aviv, Bangalore and Silicon Valley." According to Källenius, things that are developed there are also used digitally in vehicles in other markets. "They cross-fertilize each other," he said.

Hubertus Troska, the Daimler board member responsible for China, referred to the need for rapid development in the Chinese electric car market. "We need this proverbial China speed," he said. The development of technologies such as voice input, networking and driver assistance systems that are tailored to customers is particularly important. "The electric car market is growing rapidly," said Troska. New suppliers of electric cars are quickly entering the market with new products, which young Chinese users in particular want.

"Below 300,000 renminbi, competition is incredibly intense," said Källenius, referring to a purchase price of up to around 39,500 euros. As a premium provider, Mercedes currently considers itself to be well protected against the discount battles in the market and is essentially only represented above the brand level./men/DP/mis