The industry expert sees the electric car falling by the wayside in Germany. Politics is to blame.
Car industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer sees the car industry in Germany losing more and more ground. “It is a toxic mix of Berlin and Brussels that will cause great damage to Germany as a car manufacturing location in the long term,” says Dudenhöffer. The winner is the car industry in China, which is continually expanding its cost advantage in electric cars.
In China, the share of battery-powered vehicles (BEVs) in new cars sold rose to 25.7 percent in the first half of the year, remained at 7.7 percent in the USA and fell to 12.5 percent in the EU. “China’s cost advantage in electromobility is thus being further expanded, while Europe is falling further behind.” With the large volume advantages and large capacities for battery production, electric cars can be produced more cheaply in China than in Germany.
Germany is even preventing more electric cars from gradually coming onto the streets and is holding back the European car industry, says Dudenhöffer. In France, Italy and Spain, the proportion of electric cars rose in the first half of the year, but fell in Germany after the purchase premium was stopped at the end of 2023. In addition, there are new debates about synthetic fuels and the ban on the registration of new combustion engines from 2035, as well as punitive tariffs for subsidized electric cars from China. If the trend continues like this, Europe will no longer be a competitive location for the car industry in the future, according to the economist.
Source: Stern
