A panel of experts appointed by Germany’s Economy Ministry has cautioned that the German automotive industry must improve its efficiency to remain competitive.
“This is the only way it will remain internationally competitive in the medium to long term,” states a recommendation paper released on Friday by a group of automotive industry experts.
“It’s really about producing more in the same time and reducing costs,” says Ina Schaefer, who is a professor of software engineering and automotive informatics at the Technical University of Braunschweig.
According to the recommendations, “radical networking along the entire value chain is necessary,” and joint development can be carried out “in regional clusters and production networks.” Only a fundamental change will enable significant production leaps, the paper states.
The automotive industry in Germany is under pressure. Volkswagen, for example, is planning to close several plants.
“There is a struggle for the future of the automotive industry and its value creation,” the panel of experts concludes.
The global competition between locations is also intensifying due to comprehensive state investment and subsidy programmes, particularly in the US and China.
Against this background, the experts make further recommendations for both the economy and German and European politics.
These include the development of key areas of the value chain for electric cars, such as batteries and semiconductors.
Politicians should not be afraid to use subsidies to attract individual companies, they say. In order to improve conditions for companies, energy costs and bureaucracy must be reduced, they note.
