Exploring the challenges Volkswagen faces in its partnership with Xpeng amidst a declining market share in China's electric vehicle sector. The article highlights sales failures, strategic missteps, and the competition from local brands.

One former Volkswagen figure compared its predicament to that faced by Nokia, Kodak and BlackBerry: The automaker’s leadership assumed its brands would endure, even as the market shifted toward Chinese competitors with superior technology and faster innovation cycles.