The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that China, the world's biggest car market, was a boon for Europe's biggest car companies, especially German ones. The Globe's Eric Reguly writes that many of them formed local joint ventures and made fortunes as wealthy Chinese snapped up Volkswagens, Mercedes, BMWs and other European and American showroom delights. Now, European automakers are losing market share in China and sales and profits are slumping in their home market. This week, Volkswagen, the world's No. 2 automaker, announced that for the first time in its 87-year history, it will close plants in Germany. VW shares are down by almost two-thirds since their peak in 2021. Tesla, whose shares are up 25 per cent over the past year, is worth 15 times more, even though its car production is one-fifth of its German rival's. VW's woes are a sign of the crisis to come in the European auto industry. China's lead in EVs seems insurmountable, all the more so since the country has locked, or is locking up, the global supplies and refining of many critical metals for EV batteries, such as cobalt, nickel, copper and graphite. No Western carmaker that needs batteries for its EVs can avoid enriching Chinese suppliers.