Without a doubt, Markus Duesmann (53) is a car manager through and through. once at bmw Board member responsible for purchasing and previously also for Formula 1 engines, he moved to the competitor as CEO in April 2020 Audi, which is known to be in 2026 as well wants to get involved in the Formula 1 circus
. When this “Carguy” now speaks out in favor of a speed limit and a car-free Sunday, that comes as a surprise. Especially since Duesmann is also directly opposed to the policy of the car lobby association VDA.
But with the Russian war of aggression against the Ukraine, the ensuing energy crisis and rapidly increasing fuel prices, times have changed, not to mention the climate crisis and lower CO2 obligations for its industry.
“We have to rethink, realize that our lives are changing,” says the Audi boss in an interview with the “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”
. To people “in Germany better attuned to the situation and the need to save, there could be car-free days again, like in the 1970s.” If there were car-free days, like there were during the oil crisis, he would make good use of them. “If it’s a Sunday , I will ride my racing bike on the closed Autobahn.” A speed limit on German Autobahns could also set an example.
Duesmann does not believe that the war instigated in Eastern Europe will be over any time soon. The currently high capacity utilization of almost all manufacturers’ plants should not hide the fact that a long war is worrying people, that they will probably postpone purchasing decisions or, in view of the high inflation, will do without expensive purchases altogether.
Audi does not have to lower its forecasts, but you can already see “first signs” that customers are ordering fewer cars. “But,” he says, “something is coming our way, we can’t rule anything out – that’s what we’re discussing in management.” The emerging decline could be an indicator of a major turnaround in the entire German economy, which is increasingly being affected by the war in Eastern Europe and the leading economists predict a recession.
Therefore buckle before Russia, push for peace negotiations with Moscow, as some top managers and politicians are already doing? “An end to the war due to economic weakness is not an option,” says Duesmann in the interview. He considered a so-called “dictated peace” to be wrong. “We will not find our peace from this.” If the West retreats, the economy might improve in the short term, “but our social order would soon be in danger.”