Electric motor production at Bosch
Significantly fewer components than for an internal combustion engine.
(Photo: Bosch)
Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, DüsseldorfWhen Harald Kruger on Wednesday morning the annual balance of BMW presented, then he is already on the go. In Berlin waiting for the BMW-Boss a meeting with his colleagues from Wolfsburg and Stuttgart.
Together with Association President Bernhard Mattes, Krüger, Daimler-Chef Dieter Zetsche and VW-Boss Herbert dies clarify the future of the German auto industry. It is a hastily convened meeting, it is called from circles of the automaker. There is “acute need for speech” between the gentlemen.
In other words, it prevails thick air in the German car industry. The reason: A 23-page concept paper from the house Volkswagen. which is the Handelsblatt. In this Diess demands a sfaster expansion of the charging infrastructure such as tax benefits for electric cars. In itself, his colleagues from BMW and Daimler these plans.
However, Diess wants to vaporize the billions of dollars in tax benefits for the diesel. This endangers the business model of his southern German colleagues, who are dependent on petrol and internal combustion engines for a long time with their tendency to have larger cars. Numerous suppliers also feel themselves offended by Volkswagen.
Current club events
Wednesday, 20.03.19, 10:00 Düsseldorf: Handelsblatt Annual Conference “Future Steel”
Monday, 25.03.19, 18:30 Nuremberg: Investment Live
Tuesday, 09.04.19, 09:00 Düsseldorf: Handelsblatt Annual Conference “Chemistry”
Tuesday, 09.04.19, 19:00 Munich: Club talk with Nicolas Peter
Tuesday, 07.05.19, 09:15 Frankfurt am Main: Handelsblatt Annual Meeting “Restructuring”
Wednesday, 25.09.19, 08:30 Düsseldorf: Campus for Corporate Transformation 2019
“It’s a more radical approach than BMW and Daimler go,” it says confidently from the VW Group. Already is from a “Lex Volkswagen” the speech. Volkswagen, so it is from the circle of southern German competitors, wants a tailor-made subsidy policy to the detriment of the rest of the industry.
It is a turning point. Germany’s car companies are fierce competitors for every vehicle sold. But when it came to developing shared interests, Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen were always on the same page. There was a consensus with politics and the authorities, represented by the powerful industry association VDA.
With their unity, industry was able to assert its interests, the influence of the auto industry’s saturated parties and administrations – to the extent that it was sometimes difficult for the state to effectively represent public concerns such as air pollution, as critics have always criticized.
But with the unanimity it is over. And even the VDA can barely balance the diverging interests. Although denied Volkswagen newspaper reports of the weekend, after which by far the largest member could leave the association. Nevertheless, the Volkswagen Group demands with its twelve brands (among others Skoda. Audi, Porsche, Scania, MAN, VW) a new appearance in the industry.
Instead of holding fast to the burners and defending the billion-dollar tax concessions for diesel, all subsidies should be radically diverted to electric mobility, according to the demand from Wolfsburg. After VW itself has decided in recent weeks, a radical swing to electric mobility, now the conditions are to be adjusted.
Thirty billion for electric cars
Quite new is not the request. As early as the end of 2017, Diess’ predecessor Matthias Müller had demanded a departure from diesel subsidies in favor of electromobility in the Handelsblatt interview, and even then suffered the wrath of the industry.
Since then, the need to change the drive but rather strengthened from the point of view of Wolfsburg. Because of the EU’s new climate targets, VW assumes that around 2030 around 40 percent of the new fleet will need an electric motor. And also in Germany There is growing pressure on the federal government to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector.
Electromobility: Great interest in subsidies for German battery factory
The “Future Mobility Platform” set up by the Federal Ministry of Transport assumes that CO2 emissions must be reduced by 40 to 42 percent by 2030 so that Germany can meet the Paris climate targets. For 2030 would have to drive seven to ten million electric cars on Germany’s roads and the proportion of electric cars in new registrations at 75 percent. A long way: In January 2019, the value was 1.7 percent.
VW boss Herbert Diess wants to get the company off the defensive with its e-offensive. For years, the Wolfsburg fight with the flaw of exhaust fraud, which has cost the group a lot of trust and so far 28 billion euros in penalties. The rapid change to electric drives is therefore only logical for VW boss Diess. The cost of the swing, he said last to 30 billion euros, the company for the development
the new models and the conversion of production. Only last week Diess had raised the bar again. Instead of 15 million electric cars VW wants to 2030 by about 22 million electric vehicles on the road. The beginning will be the end of this year the I.-D. family with a car in the size of a VW Golf.
It is a high risk investment. The previous record is sobering, even the electropionier Tesla pushes billions in losses through the balance sheet. So far nobody knows how many electric cars are bought by the customers. The German government has long since said goodbye to the goal of getting around one million electric cars onto the streets in Germany by 2020.
This uncertainty weighs on VW. Even the smallest deviations add up to an annual sales of eleven million cars quickly to billions, which could be lost. VW can spend the money only once, so the investments would have to be cleverly used, says a manager.
Daimler and BMW need diesel
According to its own assessment, the group led by Diess is at the forefront in the development and marketing of electric cars. But even the world market leader alone can not tread this path. Because the turn away from the burner can only succeed if the charging infrastructure is expanded and the promotion is right.
The more companies push electric vehicles into the market, the faster it will go, my industry experts. “Focusing Diess on a holistic view worldwide deserves respect,” says Auto Professor Stefan Bratzel of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). “The VW boss thus increases the pressure on everyone, not only on the suppliers, but also on the regulatory, politics and infrastructure.”
But even Bratzel sees the disadvantages of too rapid transformation. “This exacerbates the impact on employment.” In fact, the VW alone wants to reduce more than 20,000 jobs in the coming years.
Car industry: VW boss Diess brings auto suppliers against him
But Daimler and BMW is going too far to focus purely on electric drives. Above all, the BMW managers have paid a lot of apprentice in the attempt to introduce electric cars in overdrive. Although the “i3”, introduced in 2013, continues to increase its sales figures, the Stromer is a niche product compared to the big BMW SUVs with their powerful diesel engines, which will never recoup its development costs of three billion euros.
That is why the Munich insists on a “technology-open” promotion policy, which also includes hybrids, diesel and synthetically produced fuels. The abrupt end of diesel subsidies demanded by VW would be fatal for BMW and Daimler, as more than half of new registrations in Europe are still powered by diesel.
Above all, the large off-road vehicles and sedans are likely to be on the road for years, primarily with diesel engines. The two premium manufacturers invest billions in the further development of these engines. Because without the relatively fuel-efficient diesel engine, the climate targets for Daimler and BMW can not be achieved with their top-of-the-range models.
Much work for VDA President Bernhard Mattes, who has to find a compromise line between Kruger, Zetsche and Diess on Wednesday. The top lobbyist enjoys manageable support in the industry. His appearance is too inconspicuous and too pale, according to various member companies. Lobbying is increasingly being taken over by the companies themselves.
This also raises the question of the meaning of the association. Even if VW should have threatened neither written nor verbally a withdrawal, but this risk is in the room.
*/
]]>
The most important news every morning in your inbox.