The RA Consulting CEO was particularly impressed by the speed at which innovations are implemented: ”The innovation engine, often referred to as ‘China Speed,’ is achieved through the parallelism of clear (government) guidelines, a strong start-up spirit, and a high degree of flexibility in implementation. This has made rapid changes in direction, such as those we are currently seeing in the automotive market, possible in the first place. For example, around five years ago, the Chinese government announced that China would also become the technology leader for combustion engines in the next decade. This was at a time when Germany was focusing exclusively on electric vehicles in its policy and voluntarily giving up its global technology leadership in combustion engines. At the same time, Chinese OEMs began to gear up for this market. Chinese manufacturers, who initially established themselves on the market with electric vehicles, are now developing hybrid models and range extenders.