Influential Porsche designer says Chinese electric car manufacturers have one crucial advantage

Chinese manufacturers are beginning to have a deep foothold in the electric car segment, as major players like BYD, JAC and Chery might be setting sights on the United States very soon.

Related: How Chinese carmakers plan to bombard America with affordable electric cars

Though China does possess an advantage in key components like raw materials, processing and battery manufacturing, a key Porsche figurehead noticed something very different that Chinese manufacturers have, that other, more established companies like Porsche do not.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Porsche chief designer Michael Mauer said that Chinese car companies have an advantage because the strict guidelines that more-established brands use to protect their “heritage” limit the creativity of their designers, but also help to inspire new ideas.

"These startups, with no heritage, they can do things completely different," Mauer told Bloomberg. "I consider it a positive thing actually, as a designer, because that makes the decision-makers — I.E., the management board — more open-minded."

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Previously, Mauer was tasked with translating the marque’s signature design across different cars and different eras, and can be shown in some of Porsche’s iconic and best-selling cars like the 911 sports car, the Cayenne SUV, Macan crossover and the limited-edition 918 Spyder hypercar.

With such cars in his design portfolio, Mauer knows a thing or two about how much design can affect the perception of the company badge on its bumpers. As rivals from the domestic front compete against the likes of Porsche  (POAHF) - Get Free Report and its parent company Volkswagen  (VLKAF) - Get Free Report in China, he sees how their lack of constraints can make that much of a difference in a huge market full of design-centric buyers.

“The success that Volkswagen brand had in the volume segment was, in my opinion, due to the fact that there was a strong focus on design and design quality,” Mauer said. “Design is certainly not the biggest issue in the company, but it’s an area where I can still achieve a lot with relatively modest resources.”

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• The EV industry is facing an unusual new problem

As electric cars become the new canvas for avant-garde design, designers across the industry are challenged to create new, innovative designs, without pushing the needle too hard into unknown territory; i.e. the Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report Cybertruck.

"I always have this image in my head of this stone that you throw into the future. The question is, how far do I throw it? Mauer said. Hitting that sweet spot exactly, going far enough into the future, but not too far, is a real challenge.”

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