Dear reader,
2025 was not a successful sales year for Germany’s automobile manufacturers. Things were particularly dismal in their most important market, China: Volkswagen? Minus 8 percent. BMW? Minus 12.5 percent. Mercedes? Minus 19 percent. The main reason for this is their abandoned electric cars. VW, Mercedes and BMW have developed past the market.
The next generation of vehicles is now starting, some of which were created in collaboration with Chinese partners. VW sales boss Martin Sander (58) promises in Automobilwoche that they are “competitive in terms of price and technology”. “We want to gain market share again. Absolutely clear.” It could be the last chance to get back on the ground in China.
Our topics of the week:
The German bicycle market shrank for the fifth year in a row in 2025. The ZIV industry association is already saying: The industry can be happy if it even reaches its pre-Corona level again. But not everywhere there is deep sadness. At Rose Bikes, sales were only just above the 2024 level, but profits increased. Owner Thorsten Heckrath-Rose (52) gives several reasons for this: inventory management, new IT, the first positive AI effects. In an interview with my colleague Lutz Reiche, he is less optimistic about the future of Eurobike. There had recently been a major crash in the center of power at the bicycle trade fair. “In any case, Eurobike will no longer play a role as a leading trade fair,” predicts Heckrath-Rose – and reveals which trade fair format he would think would be better for the industry in the future
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The future is electric. This sentence will continue to be heard from all automotive trades in 2026. But the future is taking longer to arrive than expected. Electric cars are catching on more slowly than predicted. This is why suppliers are increasingly panicking because they are missing scheduled e-calls. A consultation survey shows the extent of the dilemma Beryls by AlixPartners
among managers from 49 European automotive suppliers. In 2023, 77 percent of those surveyed still saw e-mobility as an opportunity. Most recently it was less than half at 48 percent.
Number of the week: 85,023…
… New registrations were enough in 2025 to become a German car bestseller. The crown was once again secured by the VW Golf, who will come as no surprise. Compared to 2024, however, around 15,000 fewer new “Gölves” came onto the road in this country. In the record scrappage bonus year of 2009 there were a good 366,000. The old golf glory days are over, as is Tesla’s rise in Germany. Two years ago, the Model Y stormed to number 8 in the German car sales charts. In 2025 the SUV was only ranked 83rd. My colleague Anna Driftschröer has even more numbers and a picture gallery of last year’s top 10.
President Donald Trump (79) has his own view of the state of the US auto industry. “All US automakers are doing great,” he said on the sidelines of a visit to Ford’s Dearborn plant in Michigan. Some Ford workers weren’t in as good a mood as Trump. After the visit a video made the rounds
; An employee had called Trump a “pedophile protector” because of his actions in the sex offender scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s reaction? An F-word and a middle finger. According to Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung (43), “an appropriate and unambiguous response.” O tempora, o mores…
I wish you a week without temper tantrums.
Yours, 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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