The German car industry could lose, in the view of Volkswagen-chief Herbert Diess in the coming years, its leading position on the world market. “From today’s point of view, the chances are maybe 50:50 that the German automotive industry in ten years ‘time the world’s top”, said This on Tuesday at a VW event in Wolfsburg. The challenges are enormous, said the Manager. He called the trade war between the US and China, the Brexit, as well as relations to Russia and Turkey.
the new emissions test procedure WLTP bring the industry “to the edge of their performance”. The WLTP is to deliver to the test more realistic fuel consumption values, by simulating the driving behavior on the road better. This again criticized the prospect of more stringent EU emission limits. “The current campaign against the individual mobility, and thus against the car, however, existence-threatening proportions.”
He’s thinking, “to the almost hysterical nitrous oxide discussion of a few problem areas in our towns and cities, which will dissolve in the next few years almost by itself”, or to the new CO2 limits, which are currently being negotiated in Berlin and Brussels, “and will revolutionize the car market completely”.
Some industry experts, the auto industry has taken the conversion to the new exhaust emission test for a long time. “The manufacturers have had four years time to move on to the installation of particulate filters to prepare,” says Michael Müller-Görnert, an expert from the traffic club Germany (VCD).
the introduction of The WLTP was in June of last year, decided. The then VW boss Matthias Müller criticized already at that time, the short time between the entry into force of the new rules and the adoption. “There was a lot of to little time for the car manufacturers to respond,” said Miller at the time. The change to the WLTP was not surprising for the auto industry. Long the groups had tried, however, to prevent stricter fuel consumption tests.
Diess sees environmental performance as a Problem
Critical Diess, sees in addition to the high proportion of electric cars, especially in Germany, because the drive current required is deteriorating the environmental balance rather than improve. “With about 600 grams of CO2 in the generated kilowatt hour of electricity, we are in the rear of the midfield in Europe,” said Diess. “And I don’t see currently how we want to get by 2030, our primary energy CO2-free.”
it is Unfortunate this is, “we drive instead of gasoline or Diesel, in principle, with coal, even if we are driving an electric car, in the worst case, even with brown coal,” stressed the VW boss. “This is pushing the idea of electric mobility to the point of absurdity!” Then, the CO2 emissions remained in Germany, the same as today, or even increased, although the structural change to E-mobility billion had been paid out.
The competition in Stuttgart seems to be more optimistic. In the case of Mercedes it is, electric cars “cause in the production of today, still 80% higher CO2 emissions than a gas. You will save but in driving mode with a conventional energy mix of about 65% CO2 compared to this. Thus, their total emissions of CO2 over the whole life cycle at the same mileage by at least 40 percent lower.”
Dudenhöffer: “do Not be afraid to scream through the area to run”
in addition to more stringent boundary head values, and the environmental footprint of E-car looks, VW’s Diess but still the Problem, “that the depth of value creation in E-vehicles is lower, and thus less people are required to E-cars.” All was clear, “that the structural change means that there will be less jobs in the automotive industry in Germany,” said Diess.
The VW boss had already warned in the last week before the massive job losses due to the new CO2 limits. In ten years, a total of about 100,000 jobs, which would “eliminate about a quarter of the Jobs in our plants,”.
The automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. Without stricter guidelines, the risk that 200,000 Jobs could be eliminated, there is more he said in the Northern German broadcasting. Dudenhöffer defendant that, if it were up to innovations such as electric mobility, the German automotive industry with the loss of jobs would threatened.
“Germany is an innovative country. We should use our strength and not with fear screaming through the area,” said Dudenhöffer. In the auto industry, conquer fear, because you’ll make good gains with the old cars. That is, in the opinion of Dudenhöffer wrong: “Then you lose in the future the profits.”
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