Sing when you’re winning: how karaoke in cars heralds the triumph of Chinese firms

The BYD Seagull electric car has ruffled feathers with a price of about £6,000 in China. Its autonomous technology, dubbed ‘God’s Eye’, matches that available on much more expensive cars. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

If Chinese carmakers are to be believed, a lot of people really love karaoke. Those people love karaoke so much that they want it in their family car.

This was not something the European mind could comprehend a few years ago, according to Volkswagen’s chief financial officer, Arno Antlitz. Yet the technology, included in electric cars sold by China’s BYD and Xpeng, is just one example of the lessons that Volkswagen and its European counterparts have had to learn as they scramble to keep up with Chinese rivals on track to dominate the global electric car market.