Dear reader,
We want to continually improve our mobility offering for you. Curtain up for: “manage:mobility live”. In our new digital format we talk to experts in the scene. Above all, you should get a chance. In a virtual discussion, our subscribers can ask the questions that are burning on their minds.
We are very pleased that we were able to win one of the most prominent industry analysts for the premiere on March 7th at 6 p.m.: Daniel Röska from Bernstein uses his reports to show company bosses such as Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume and Mercedes-Benz manager Ola Källenius the weaknesses and sometimes also the price potential.
Daniel Röska is looking forward to your questions, snappy comments and a lively exchange of ideas. Of course we at manage:mobility do too! You can register for the premiere of “manage:mobility live” here.
There is also a lot going on in the mobility industry. Our topics of the week:
Why Volkswagen’s software subsidiary Cariad is heading into the next crisis
Why Apple is burying its car plans
How the car industry is fighting itself again with crazy discounts after fat years
Top topic: Why Volkswagen’s software subsidiary Cariad is heading into the next crisis
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Programming errors: Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume, human resources director Gunnar Kilian, works council boss Daniela Cavallo and VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer (from right) always have to solve new Cariad problems
Photo: PR
Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. When Americans are absolutely convinced of something, they expand Franklin’s “death and taxes” dogma. In German you could complete the phrase with “software problems at Volkswagen”. These also seem inevitable. Once again the daughter Cariad is in trouble. At the wrong time, company boss Oliver Blume (55) and Cariad boss Peter Bosch (50) want to radically restructure the company. My colleague Michael Freitag researched the extent of the recent mess: The launches of important models from VW, Audi and Porsche have been postponed again
.
Heads: Tim Cook ++ Elon Musk ++ Michael Lohscheller
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Let him cook – but no longer on the car: Apple boss Tim Cook buries “Project Titan”
Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
A much younger English-language phrase is becoming increasingly popular: “Let him cook”. was about his car dreams. Nothing less than the best car in the world was to emerge from “Project Titan”. But Cook never found the right recipe, not even in cooperation plans with Volkswagen. Michael Freitag and Jonas Rest analyzed what caused Apple’s car plans to fail
.
While Cook cancels, Elon Musk (52) does it again: The second edition of the Tesla Roadster should actually be ready for the market in 2020. Now (if Musk is to be believed) it will be 2025. He wants to introduce the car, which will be equipped with small rocket engines from Musk’s space company SpaceX, this year. Tesla boss expects “the most stunning product demo ever”. What else.
We don’t know whether Michael Lohscheller (55) met Tim Cook or Elon Musk during his last stop at the lurching truck manufacturer Nikola in the USA. However, Lohscheller’s future employer is known. The former Opel boss will be in June new president
the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.
Company: Seat ++ Renault ++ BYD ++ Polestar
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Junk instead of returns: Car manufacturers are once again outdoing each other with discounts
Photo:
Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance / dpa
An annual subscription to the sports streaming provider DAZN usually costs 34.99 euros per month. If you don’t like football etc., you can currently get a car for a similar amount of money. No joke: You could find a Seat Ibiza online these days for a leasing rate of 39 euros per month. After recent tough years, the car industry had actually vowed not to fall back into crazy discount battles again. Our research shows: It’s all just smoke and mirrors – and dangerous for those involved
.
The majority of the car industry said at this week’s Geneva Motor Show: non, merci. Renault boss Luca de Meo (56) enjoyed the lack of shared attention. The Italian explained that not only Chinese manufacturers could build affordable electric cars with a view to the newly introduced R5
. It costs at least 25,000 euros. De Meo won’t be able to get even cheaper electric cars on his own. He is therefore looking for a partner for a 20,000 euro electric car.
Speaking of Chinese manufacturers. Not only are they represented in large numbers in Geneva, but they also generally want to accelerate their exports to Europe. BYD’s first RoRo freighter (“Roll on Roll off”) docked in Bremerhaven on Monday with 3,000 electric cars on board. Meanwhile, the government of BYD’s hometown of Shenzhen wants it Boost car exports with 24 measures. Maybe this is how it will turn out so far a rather flat wave
the much talked about car tsunami.
Another Chinese brand had recently been wobbling: Polestar had to save money, kept losing targets and botched model launches. Recently, the sister brand Volvo also distanced itself. Several major banks are now giving Polestar some breathing room, including BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered and HSBC with one $950 million injection
.
More mobility: Dangerous cargo bikes, e-mopeds at ridiculous prices and e-sharers being thwarted
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Better to leave it alone: cargo bike manufacturer Babboe has a quality problem
Photo:
Wolfgang Maria Weber / IMAGO
A good two weeks ago, Accell stopped selling its daughter Babboe’s cargo bikes due to broken frames. There is now a recall in the Netherlands. It is still unclear whether this will also happen in other countries. The German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health cannot order recalls, However, Babboe bikes are now classified as “dangerous products”..
The French electric moped rental company Cityscoot collected a sum in the high double-digit millions in recent years and still went bankrupt. Now the chapter is closed. The Spanish competitor Cooltra buys the customer base and the brand for just 400,000 euros. Cityscoot founder Bertrand Fleurose responded with a melodramatic “Post mortem” posting
Farewell.
There are more and more car sharing cars in Germany. In 2023, the fleet grew by 27.1 percent to 43,110 vehicles. However, there is also an electrode when sharing. Providers prefer to rely on petrol and diesel engines. Gunnar Nehrke, Managing Director of Federal Car Sharing Association
, seeks responsibility for this elsewhere. Car sharing cars can only be charged publicly; politicians must create the appropriate conditions for this.
Give us your opinion!
If you have any questions or suggestions about this newsletter, please feel free to write to us manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
. Of course, if you have any tips or suggestions for research. We are looking forward to your message.
Number of the week: 1.27
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Watt a usury: Fast charging can be expensive fun for electric car drivers
Photo: Jochen Tack / IMAGO
Sixt has just started its charging service Sixth charge
unlocked, there is already the first little shitstorm. At X (formerly Twitter), users are upset about high costs, for example 1.27 euros per kilowatt hour
at a fast charging station in Handewitt. A little math game: If an electric car consumes 20 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers, it costs 25.40 euros in this case. If a combustion engine consumes 8 liters per 100 kilometers, that would correspond to a fuel price of around 3.18 euros per liter. In its pre-formulated answers to customer questions, Sixt dismisses the blame for the usury: “Every charging network connected via SIXT charge has its own tariff rules; as an intermediary, we have no influence on this.” Perhaps charging station operators and electricity brokers should get together as soon as possible to offer affordable fast charging.
Deep Drive: Super Super Bowl for VW
We recently wrote here about the crazy amounts of money that advertisers are spending on spots surrounding the Super Bowl football spectacle. Can 7 million euros be worth it for 30 seconds? Difficult to imagine. Data from the US industry giant Cox Automotive
at least indicate that the car brands that played the wild game a good two weeks ago have achieved a certain effect with their spots. Above all, Volkswagen “An American Love Story”
: On platforms like Autotrader, 117 percent more users searched for VW during the game than before. A prominent former coach of FC Bayern Munich would probably say: For Volkswagen it was a “super, super Super Bowl”.
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Ghost driver of the week
The North Star is threatening to burn out: Volocopter’s Olympic plans are apparently in danger
Photo: Roslan RAHMAN/ AFP
At the Olympic Games in July, French President Emmanuel Macron (46) is scheduled to fly into the stadium in a Volocopter air taxi. There are (once again) big doubts about this. According to media reports, the plan is wobbling worryingly. Volocopter apparently has problems with certification. Volocopter boss Dirk Hoke (54) had the Olympics a good year ago in conversation with manager magazine
referred to as “our North Star”. Now he has to be careful not to burn up as a supernova.
Have a good week.
Kind regards, Christoph Seyerlein
Do you have any wishes, suggestions or information that we should take care of journalistically? You can reach my colleagues in the Mobility team and me at manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
.
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