They said the same when Japanese car makers were trashing European and US manufacturers in the 1980s. Yet they adapted. Then they said the same when the South Koreans trashed them, yet they adapted. Now they say the same about the Chinese.
Sure, past performance is no indicator of future performance, but all the doom-saying and hysterics are just that, fear of the unknown.
They adopted in the sense of surviving. Considering their head start and massive government support for the industry, their market share compared to Japanese and Korean cars is a joke, with the Chinese it will get even worst because this time they will be pushed out of their home market too.
This comes from a die hard bmw fan. Facts over feelings.