According to a VDA survey, suppliers' investment intentions are weak. Seventy-two percent of companies plan to postpone, relocate, or entirely cancel investments originally intended for Germany. Of these, 28 percent want to move investments abroad, 19 percent intend to cancel them, and 25 percent plan to postpone them. This will have an impact on employees. By 2025, around two-thirds of the surveyed companies will have already reduced their workforce in Germany, the report stated. Currently, this applies to nearly one in two companies. Abroad, meanwhile, jobs are being created or at least the number of employees is being kept stable, according to the survey of automotive suppliers.
The VDA called on the federal government to push for relief measures within the EU. Referring to recent changes in emissions regulations, Müller said that the promised technological openness from Brussels must not only be pledged but also practically enabled. With the current proposals, Germany as an automotive nation cannot be satisfied. "A reduction in CO2 reduction targets to minus 90 percent, which is simultaneously tied to conditions and new requirements, is not a relief and does not provide any planning security."
In December, the EU Commission proposed softening the ban on internal combustion engines originally planned for 2035. Fleet CO2 emissions will now only need to be reduced by 90 percent by 2035. This means that some vehicles with combustion engines can still be newly registered after that date. However, automakers must offset these emissions, for example by using green steel or blending climate-neutral fuels. At the same time, stricter CO2 rules will apply to fleet operators, such as rental car companies.
(Reporting by Christina Amann, edited by Sabine Wollrab. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)
