What was casually announced at the beginning of the year as a “Car Summit in the Chancellery” for Tuesday, January 10, is now apparently not to be a date on the needs of the car industry, according to the government’s ideas, but a forum entitled “Strategy Platform of the Transformation of the automotive and mobility industry”.
As can be heard from the circles of participants, the agenda does not begin with economic concerns in the automotive industry, a decline in orders and gloomy prospects for sales of e-cars.
Rather, the government sets its priorities on the agenda, and climate and environmental protection are at the top.
This is obviously followed by the points "smart car", i.e. connected and controlled driving, finally "networked mobility" and then the "resilience of the supply chains".
Corinna Budras
Business correspondent in Berlin.
Follow I follow
Tobias Piller
Editor in Business.
Follow I follow
In an ARD interview from the electronics trade fair CES in Las Vegas on Thursday evening, BMW boss Oliver Zipse was still enthusiastic about the possibilities of a discussion at the date, which he apparently understood to be a car summit.
Zipse said: "We welcome the fact that such a meeting is taking place at all.
Next to the chemical industry, the automotive industry is the largest economic power of industry in Germany, and you have to see what we will do in terms of raw material dependencies, competitiveness, and also with regard to the competitive advantages that German industry has in international competition today.” The transformation for the future the industry must create on its own and without the help of the state, said Zipse.
The general conditions are very different.
Is the industry on the defensive?
However, when looking at the agenda and list of participants at the "Transformation and Mobility Summit" in the Chancellery, it could well be that the automotive industry will not even get around to making its demands, but rather that it will get on the defensive.
In addition to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Transport Minister Volker Wissing, the participants also included Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, the car opponents from Agora Verkehrswende, the Institute for Energy Optimization ETA and the Alliance for Socially Responsible Mobility.
Therefore, the discussion could go in very different directions.
Because environmental organizations and climate protectionists complain that the transport sector has not succeeded in achieving the specified goals of reducing CO2 emissions.
So far, the German transport sector has at least managed to keep emissions constant, while strong increases can be seen outside of Germany in an international comparison.
The improved framework conditions desired by the automotive industry for a reduction in CO2 emissions can only have an indirect effect on the agenda items climate and environmental protection.
The automotive industry would like more opportunities for sustainably produced e-fuels, which can also make combustion cars more climate-friendly, or a faster expansion of the charging network.
This currently consists of almost 12,000 public fast charging stations for cars, while there are still virtually no specific charging stations for trucks.
criticism before the event
The car industry is a minority among the almost 40 participants according to the previous invitation list, albeit relatively broadly represented, with the bosses of the five German car manufacturers and the truck manufacturer Daimler Truck as well as the chairmen of the respective general works council.
In addition to these dozen industry representatives, there is Hildegard Müller, Chairwoman of the Association of the German Auto Industry (VDA), as well as ADAC, representing the interests of motorists.
Representatives of the European battery manufacturer Northvolt, which has since questioned its plans for a factory in Schleswig-Holstein, and the German chip manufacturer Infineon were invited.
On the other hand, the supply industry, which is currently suffering particularly badly and is particularly affected by the switch to electric drives, is hardly represented.
Only the transmission manufacturer ZF and its chairman of the general works council speak for them.
The list of participants and the setting of topics led to criticism even before the summit.
The interest group "Allianz pro Schiene" and several bicycle associations criticized the fact that the meeting was about the transformation of the mobility economy "on paper", but that almost exclusively representatives of the automotive industry were invited.
"This stands for a completely outdated understanding of mobility, which again endangers the climate goals in the transport sector," emphasized the associations in a joint statement.
They are calling on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to “approach the turnaround in traffic as a whole and make it a top priority”.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit admitted that the focus on Tuesday was indeed on the auto industry, but stressed that the format was not that of an auto summit.
However, the construction industry also feels left out.
Without a massive investment pact in the form of the investment offensive promised in the coalition agreement, neither the high-performance network at Deutsche Bahn nor the expansion of the e-charging infrastructure will work.
It is therefore incomprehensible why the building does not play a role at the Federal Chancellor's mobility summit, criticized the general manager of the German Construction Industry Association, Tim-Oliver Müller.
"Infrastructure is the basis for the mobility transition and we are building this transition."
The group invited by the Chancellery to transform the automotive industry and mobility will apparently meet at regular intervals in the future.
No resolutions are expected for the first meeting.