Herbert dies
Both the VW boss and his opponent had prepared well.
(Photo: Reuters)
Frankfurt Tina Velo had raised the bar before the conversation – very high. “I would like the wrong green image in the discussion with Mr. Diess unmasked, “said the climate activist on Monday morning with a view to the e-initiative of Europe’s largest carmaker. And added, “I’m not afraid because we have the better arguments.”
For a good hour argued the spokeswoman of “sand in gear” and Volkswagen– Master Herbert Diess on Monday evening – moderated by Malte Kreutzfeldt, environmental editor of the daily newspaper “Taz”. In the end, Velo could only partially fulfill their promise. Which is also because Diess can not be unmasked so easily. Too brave, to critically proven is the top manager. And so the discussion became, above all, an exchange of known positions – without any real gain in knowledge.
Right at the beginning Velo goes hard with Diess and VW to the court. “The car companies and especially VW have provoked the biggest scandal ever,” says the 33-year-old with a view to the diesel scandal. “And you wantonly accepted the death of millions of people.”
But the VW boss can not be lured out of the reserve, remains calm, does not intervene and answers concentrated when it’s his turn: You can certainly accuse the industry a lot, he admits. “But the car industry is changing, we show on the IAA almost only electric cars. “
A statement that brings Velo on the palm: “That may sound ecological, that may sound like a change. But that is no more than a fig leaf. Your greenwashing makes me angry. “VW did not manage to build e-vans or e-buses. It’s not just about the car, it’s about completely new concepts for the entire mobility. “My stomach is turning around when I hear that the car industry has recognized the signs. They are building more and more thick SUVs, tons of city tanks that transport 80 kilos of people. “
Tina Velo
“It needs a clear policy that pushes the car back. There will not be any alternatives in town for that long. “
A sore point in the industry. The boom of the heavy off-road vehicles provides for growing criticism, And it makes it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to comply with future emission requirements. “Yes, we build SUVs. That’s right, “Diess answers matter-of-factly. “But we need their profits to invest in the future. They are what the customer wants to drive today. “But he does share many of Velo’s points. He himself campaigned, for example, for the coal exit. “And I like cycling a lot.”
Both sides have prepared well
Even if there are no personal attacks – it quickly becomes clear that both sides will not find each other. Unity prevails only in one point: Man needs mobility. But that’s it. How this mobility should look like in the future, opinions differ powerfully. “Duting the car would be the wrong way,” says Diess. And makes a compromise proposal: “You are right that the car is a bad compromise for urban mobility. You need different solutions. “Cars need too much space here.
But cycling is not enough, not even the new collection services, as VW is currently testing it with Moia in Hamburg, “The new mobility services usually do not displace the car, they displace the public transport systems,” says the activist and demands: “It needs a clear policy that pushes the car back. There will not be any alternatives in town for that long. “
A sensitive point for a CEO, whose main business is currently the sale of cars and will probably stay even longer. “It’s hard for the industry to plan 50 years in advance,” he says. Velo only lets in: “That’s revealing. I’m shocked.”
There is also controversy as the debate comes to the fundamental question of whether growth and conservation of resources can even be reconciled. “There is no decoupling of economic growth from resource consumption,” argues Velo. The goal of VW is it time to sell thick cars because the margin is higher there. This is inevitably at the expense of the environment. From these constraints, the group could not solve. That does not agree, this counters Diess. “I do not share your opinion at all. Growth must be linked to sustainability. People do not have to do without wealth and comfort, I am convinced of that. “
Both sides have prepared well – with numbers, facts and arguments. And so moderator Kreutzfeldt in the end also unsurprisingly states that you do not have many points where you agree. However, there is one thing: the industry alone can not handle the turnaround, explain both sides. “We need politics,” says Diess.
Where Velo expresses clear doubts, whether currently the right politicians are in power: “We have a car sales department here. The connection between politics and industry is very close. And at the moment we have a policy that makes a change in traffic impossible. “A statement that does not comment on this.
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