Has the direction of imitation changed?

Once upon a time, when we saw a new model at Chinese auto shows, what we did was almost a game: “Let’s see who they copied this from?” A bit of Mercedes, a bit of BMW, Porsche at the back, Audi at the front… Once you removed the logo, it was often not very difficult to find which European model the car was “inspired” by. Looking at the rapid rise of the Chinese automotive industry, especially in the 2000s, it could be said for a long time that it was a follower of Western brands in terms of design.

Lately, however, I find myself thinking the exact opposite when looking at new electric cars. Especially when I see BMW’s new electric models and the new design language it has introduced with the Neue Klasse, the following question comes to my mind: Haven’t I seen this car in China before?

The point of this article is not whether BMW or another European manufacturer is directly copying Chinese brands. It looks at a broader question: In the age of electric cars, who is following whom, and who is normalizing whose design language? Because in the automotive world, if not imitation, the direction of the reference may be changing.

From copycat to trendsetter

The transformation of the Chinese automotive industry is extraordinarily rapid. China, which once transferred technology from Europe and Japan, learned to produce cars through joint ventures, and was frequently criticized for imitating Western brands in terms of design, today possesses the world’s largest electric car ecosystem.

Brands like BYD, NIO, XPeng, Zeekr, and Li Auto are no longer just producing cheap alternatives. They are aspiring to a privilege that Western manufacturers have held for years: The privilege of defining what the future of the automobile will look like. Moreover, it is not just market shares that are changing.

With the electric car, the visual language of the automobile has also changed. Large radiator grilles have been replaced by closed and clean front faces, complex lines by simpler surfaces, and classic headlights by thin light signatures. Door handles have moved into the body. Buttons in cockpits have decreased, and screens have grown. The automobile has increasingly begun to resemble a digital product rather than a mechanical machine. Of course, we cannot call any of these “Chinese design” on their own.

We cannot ignore Tesla’s influence in this transformation; aerodynamic requirements also lead designers in different parts of the world to similar solutions. Despite this, when you look at the Chinese market today, it is clear that these elements have come together very quickly and have almost created a new EV design grammar. Europe’s new electric models are also increasingly starting to speak this language.

Why is BMW an interesting example?

At this exact point, BMW is a particularly striking example. Because BMW is not an ordinary car manufacturer; it is a company that has produced its own visual codes for decades, from the kidney grille to the Hofmeister kink, and has even created one of the design languages followed by other brands. But the BMW we see with the Neue Klasse is very different. Cleaner surfaces, thinner light elements, a simplified front section, a digitized interior, and a tech-product feel throughout the car…

When I look at the new BMWs, I feel a convergence toward the world we have seen in Chinese premium electric cars for the last few years, rather than an evolution of old BMW design. The chronology does not completely invalidate this feeling either. NIO introduced its flagship electric sedan, the ET7, in January 2021. With its simple surfaces, closed front face, thin light signature, and digital technology-centered cabin, the ET7 was one of the early examples of the premium electric car language we are starting to get used to today. The Vision Neue Klasse, which reveals BMW’s future design language, appeared before the world in September 2023.

Of course, this chronology is not enough to say “BMW copied NIO.” That is not the point anyway. What is striking is that when BMW announced the design language of its own new electric era, Chinese manufacturers had already been using a similar simplification and digital premium aesthetic on real cars for several years. BMW’s own statements make the story even more interesting:

BMW CEO Oliver Zipse clearly stated that the technology race will be determined in China in 2025. The company is expanding its design and R&D capacity in China; it is collaborating with Chinese technology companies and giving its local teams important roles in the Neue Klasse models developed for the Chinese market.

Even the expression BMW uses is striking: “China speed.” In other words, the issue is no longer just how quickly China can learn what is done in Munich; it is also becoming important how quickly Munich can read what is happening in Shanghai and how quickly it can respond to it.

The real change may be power

Perhaps the question “Who is imitating whom?” is actually the wrong question. Because major changes in design history do not always happen in the form of direct copying. Sometimes a country, company, or culture creates such a powerful product language that others start designing within that language, whether they are aware of it or not.

For a time, this power in the automotive world was largely in Europe. When a car needed to look premium, the reference was Mercedes, BMW, or Audi. Ferrari or Porsche defined what a sports car should look like. China, on the other hand, was mostly on the side that followed, adapted, and occasionally imitated this language. Today, the picture may be changing: Chinese manufacturers are not just producing more electric cars; they are developing products faster, placing the digital experience at the center of the car more boldly, and bringing new design ideas to the market in a much shorter time. Western manufacturers are also no longer just trying to sell cars to China, but are trying to understand the speed and language emerging there.

It is no longer just about the market

This difference is not small. When economic power changes, the production center changes; when technological power changes, the R&D center changes. When the reference point of design begins to change, cultural power also shifts. That is why the Western manufacturers’ view of China today cannot be explained solely by market share or cost calculations.

As roles change

Perhaps the best way to understand this transformation is to look back twenty years. In the 2000s, some cars coming out of China were almost a laughingstock in Europe. There were many examples, from SUVs that looked too much like the BMW X5 to sedans that reminded one of Mercedes models. European manufacturers were filing intellectual property lawsuits, and the automotive press was publishing photos of Chinese “copycat” models side by side. The dominant narrative of that period was very clear:

We design, they copy. Only twenty years have passed. Today, the CEO of one of the world’s most established German car manufacturers says that the technology race will be determined in China. Perhaps one of the biggest changes in automotive history in recent years is hidden right here.

China has not only ceased to be the world’s car factory. It has slowly become one of the reference laboratories of the automotive world. For this reason, it may not be a coincidence that when we see a new BMW, Mercedes, or Audi in the coming years, we say, “This looks like Chinese cars.”

This does not necessarily mean they are copied. But it may show something more important: Europe is no longer the only one deciding what the car of the future will look like. And perhaps for the first time in a long time in the automotive world, it is time to ask the question in reverse:

Is China still following Europe, or is Europe trying to catch up with China?