Dear reader, dear reader,
He was considered a “Mister automated driving”: Harald Kröger (57) was one of the thinkers in the German auto industry for many years. First at Mercedes, then at Bosch. But a good three years ago, he suddenly left the management of the world’s largest car supplier and devoted himself even more to the semiconductor business. Today Kröger is a member of the board of directors and automotive chief at Sima.ai, a US start-up, the semiconductor of which is designed for use with artificial intelligence.
In our talk format “Manage: Mobility Live” we want to discuss with him on Wednesday, March 19, at 2 p.m. whether cars will soon be smarter than its drivers and how the auto industry could become a pioneer of using artificial intelligence. As a subscriber of manager of the manager, you can be there and more than that: You can support us in asking Harald Kröger the right questions. So participation is worthwhile Click here for registration.
Photo: Martin Stollberg/ Manager Magazin
These are our topics of the week:
How Volkswagen wants to conquer an unreachable market.
Why John Krafcik doesn’t believe in Teslas Robotaxis.
Who has to tremble because of the Northvolt bankruptcy.
Topic of the week: How Volkswagen wants to crack an unattainable market
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Again and again India: Volkswagen wants to know it again with a cheap car
Photo: Joerg Boethling/ Imago
The budget car. VW has already set up several times to finally build a car that can afford almost everyone and everyone, just a Volkswagen. Several attempts failed that some vwers have long been annoyed by the endless saga. China? Difficult. USA? Impossible. But now the trail does not lead to India for the first time. Volkswagen could urgently use new growth markets and India with its almost 1.5 billion inhabitants is said to have great potential. My colleague Michael Freitag researched how you really want to make it at VW this time, Building a cheap car, making money and cracking an almost unattainable market
.
Heads: John Krafcik ++ Jason Hoff ++ Makoto Uchida ++ Bernie Ecclestone
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Robotaxi expert: John Krafcik used to be head of the Robotaxi company Waymo
Photo: dpa
Despite the halved share price since the end of January, Tesla has still been rated miles across miles with almost $ 700 billion than the competition. Does it stay that way? Elon Musk (53) wants to start Tesla’s autonomous robotaxi service in June. If he does not deliver, Musksche Megacrash threatens. John Krafcik (63) can well imagine that this happens. In an interview with my colleague Jonas Rest, the former boss of the Robotaxi Frontrunner Waymo speaks about what makes Google sister better than others, why autonomous driving on highways is more difficult than in the city and why Tesla is far from being able to offer a safe autonomous driving service
.
Premiere at Mercedes: For the first time, the Stuttgart car manufacturer installs its own boss for North America. Hope rests: Jason Hoff.
The sparrows have long since whistled from the roofs of Yokohama, now Makoto Uchida (58) is officially no longer boss of the car maker Nissan. In addition to bad numbers, he was doomed with Honda. Can Uchida’s successor Ivan Espinosa revive the plans?
Bernie Ecclestone (94) gives the garage of Mark Mateschitz (32) wings. The son of the Red Bull founder, who died in 2022 buys the former Formula 1 boss 69 Grand Prix rarities, including the Ferrari F2002, with which Michael Schumacher (56) had brought his fifth World Cup title. Purchase price: secret. The collection is said to be worth several hundred million euros.
Company: Northvolt ++ Volkswagen ++ Cariad ++ Porsche
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Battery empty: Northvolt interior chief Pia Aaltonen-Forell took over after the application for creditor protection in the USA
Photo: Northvolt
It is becoming increasingly unlikely that Northvolt will get his batteries recharged again. After the bankruptcy in the USA The Swedes now only remained in their homeland only the passage in front of the bankruptcy court. The German Northvolt subsidiary is not directly affected by this, in Heide (Schleswig-Holstein) you can still hop for a new investor for the planned giga factory. From the point of view of the vehicle manufacturers, two brands are likely to ensure the development of the development particularly nervously: Scania and Porsche.
Scania’s battery bankruptcy is a problem for Volkswagen. The group also has its ailments in their own house: in 2024 the group earned an operation in 19.1 billion euros. A lot of money, but 15 percent less than a year earlier. The margin fell from 7 percent in 2023 to 5.9 percent. The tariff employees can still be happy: at 4799.50 euros, they even get a slightly higher premium than in the previous year.
A unit that once had great hopes only plays a supporting role at Volkswagen. The software subsidiary Cariad is further evaporated: By the end of the year, 1600 of the currently still 5900 jobs are to be eliminateda company spokesman confirmed on Tuesday. Curious: The Cariad works councils Stefan Henze and Gerhard Retzer said on Wednesday that a volunteer program would be negotiated, but the rumored numbers were “not well-founded”. One is “not amused” about the procedure.
The times were also better elsewhere in the group. Porsche Operating result 2024 dropped by 30 percent. The sports car manufacturer has to say goodbye to the actual goal of soon being able to push the operational return towards 20 percent. In the medium term, it should now be 15 to 17 percent, the new CFO Jochen Breckner (47) expects only 10 to 12 percent. Porsche has to struggle mainly in China: sales there broke by 28 percent last year.
But there are also grumbling divisions at Volkswagen: the company set the company from the in -house currywurst last year 8.552 million pieces
from (2023: 8.3 million). The “original part” was almost as popular as the vehicles of the entire group: including truck, Volkswagen 2024 sold just over nine million vehicles.
More mobility: cruises, trains and a “Death Turbo” for taxis
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Photo: Manager Magazin
Around 32 million passengers entered a cruise ship in 2024. Although more and more port cities are defending themselves against mass tourism and its burden on the environment, the number is likely to increase. From Royal Carribean to Aida to Tui Cruises: Helmut Reich looked at, Which shipping companies with their cruise lines dominate the world’s oceans and with which extras they vie around customers.
Bahn-Bashing, edition 2024: Deutsche Bahn narrowly paid last year 197 million euros to passengerswhose trains arrived too late or not at all. In 2023 it was 132.2 million euros. Thank you for Tschusing passenger rights form.
In an emergency, some of the railways that are trusted with the railways switch to the taxi. But how long? If you think of Waymo and its robo cars, the future of the trade seems uncertain. However, the taxi and rental car association Germany has identified a completely different “death turbo”, which could accelerate the taxister: 15 euros minimum wage. Many of the companies could not afford that, the association says in a “Fire letter
“To the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
If you have any questions or suggestions about this newsletter, please write to us manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
. Likewise, of course, if you have information or suggestions for research. We look forward to your message.
Number of week: 6.3 billion
The German bicycle market has shrunk in 2024. After 3.95 million in 2023, 3.85 million customers recently saddled a new bike, the sales of the industry fell from 7.1 to 6.3 billion euros. “”Not everything has been over yet“, Says Burkhard Stork, managing director of the two-wheeler industry association, with a view to the ongoing bicycle flaut. After all, the declines were lower than expected.
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Photo: Manager Magazin
Deepdrive: German Ladelust
Subjectively observed, the loading of electric cars from many Germans in the past few months sparked frustration: too expensive and too unreliable, public charging offers seem too expensive and too unreliable. According to the software provider ELVAH, the use of freely accessible charging stations in this country is still increasing. In the second half of 2024 there were more than 25 million public charging processes, the equivalent of 137,000 a day. With 590 gigawatts “fueled” e-car drivers 22 percent more electricity than between January and June.
Ghost driver of the week
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First carnival, then noise: the mood at Ford in Cologne escalates
Photo: Henning Kaiser/ dpa
In the “Rhine Basic Law”, Article 3, it says: At Ford in Cologne, however, the question arises more than ever whether history can still end well. The headquarters in Detroit donates Ford-Werke GmbH 4.4 billion euros to repay debt. The catch: In return, a patronage declaration from 2006 loses its validity. If Ford goes bankrupt in Europe, which the Cologne works council considers possible within some years, the US mother no longer has to stand for it. This is ruthless, rage employee representatives, the situation escalates on the Rhine: At a “vigil” in front of the factory premises, participants lit on Tuesday evening torch and Bengalos. IG Metall projected under a large logo on a building in Ford insignia: “Fuck you-we stay!” Incidentally, Article 4 of the Rheinische Grundlecht says: Wat FOT FOT, FOT FOT – maybe soon Ford.
Come through the week well.
Your Christoph Seyerlein
Do you have any wishes, suggestions, information that we should take care of journalistically? You can reach my colleagues in the Mobility and me team at manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
.
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