According to leading expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, the German automotive industry is increasingly losing ground to its global competitors.
“It is a toxic mixture from Berlin and Brussels that will cause great damage to Germany as a location for the automotive industry in the long term,” said Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Bochum.
The winner, he said, is China’s auto industry, which is continuing to expand its cost advantage with electric cars.
The share of battery-powered vehicles (BEVs) in new car sales in China rose to 25.7% in the first half of the year, while in the US 7.7% of sales were electric and in the EU the share fell to 12.5%.
“China’s cost advantage in electromobility is thus being further expanded, while Europe is falling further behind,” says Dudenhöffer. With the large volume advantages and large capacities for battery production, electric cars are cheaper to produce in China than in Germany.
In France, Italy and Spain, the share of electric cars rose in the first half of the year, while in Germany it fell after the abolition of the purchase premium at the end of 2023.
According to Dudenhöffer, German policy prevented more electric cars from hitting the road and put the European car industry at a disadvantage.
If current trends continue, Europe is likely to become an even less attractive market for the automotive industry in the future, he argued.
