Guido Reinking and Burkhard Weller
Are China’s carmakers overtaking us?
Germany's largest BMW, BYD and MG dealer on the future of the car market

Date: 09.11.2026
From 18:30, starts at 19:00

Venue: JW Marriott Hotel Frankfurt, Thurn-und-Taxis-Platz 2, 60313 Frankfurt am Main

Topic:
The news sounds worrying to many: China's automotive industry is now the largest in the world and is making a major push into the German market. BYD, MG, Geely and numerous other manufacturers are making full use of their expertise in electric mobility and their low production costs. Will German manufacturers be left behind?

Burkhard Weller is not only the country's largest BMW dealer. No one in Germany sells more cars made by BYD, China's largest electric car manufacturer. Weller is also Germany's largest Toyota dealer. Back in the late 1970s, Japanese manufacturers had already struck fear into Germany's carmakers. For the German automotive industry, this proved to be a salutary shock. Will it manage to turn things around this time, too?

Business and automotive journalist Guido Reinking interviews Burkhard Weller about the rise of Chinese car brands, the future of German manufacturers and the profound transformation of automotive retail.

Speaker:
Burkhard Weller is one of the best-known entrepreneurs in Germany's automotive retail industry. In 1979, at the age of 25, he set up his own Toyota dealership in Osnabrück. Over several decades, he developed it into one of Germany's largest owner-managed automotive retail groups. Today, WELLER operates at more than 40 locations with over 2,600 employees and sells vehicles from various brands, including BMW, MINI, Toyota, Lexus, SEAT, CUPRA, MG, BYD and Denza.

Weller built his company largely through his own efforts, acquired additional dealerships and expanded his business to include sales and servicing for further brands. Over more than four decades, he has witnessed and helped shape the profound transformation of German automotive retail, from traditional, locally focused dealerships to large, multi-brand retail groups. As President of the Association of Automotive Dealers in Germany (VAD), he is also a respected interlocutor for the media and policymakers.

Interview: Guido Reinking
Guido Reinking has followed the automotive industry as a journalist for many years, initially at Welt am Sonntag, then at Financial Times Deutschland and later as editor-in-chief of Automobilwoche. Since the beginning of 2015, the business and automotive journalist has produced engaging content on mobility for media outlets, industry events and his own publications. He is a sought-after interview guest for television broadcasters such as n-tv, WDR and ZDF and writes for the business magazine Capital.

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