Frankfurt am Main – “Employee representatives and companies share a key common interest: the success of the automotive industry and the preservation of value creation and secure, skilled jobs in Germany and Europe. Policymakers in Brussels and Berlin must create stable framework conditions to achieve this,” emphasized Detlef Wetzel, First Chairman of IG Metall, and Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the joint IAA symposium on Monday in Frankfurt before numerous high-ranking guests from business and labor unions.
Wetzel and Wissmann further emphasized: “Industry and IG Metall agree: Germany can be the leading supplier and an important market for electric cars. Policymakers, business leaders, and labor unions have set the goal of making Germany the leading market for electric mobility. By 2020, one million electric cars are to be on the road in Germany—that is the goal set by policymakers. In addition, 30,000 additional jobs related to electric mobility are to be created. If policymakers seriously want to seize the opportunity to become a ‘leading market,’ the necessary conditions must be created quickly and decisively; otherwise, the project will fail.”
The companies and their employees have made good progress toward the other major goal: becoming leading providers of electric cars. Wissmann and Wetzel went on to say: “At the IAA, German manufacturers are presenting 22 electric car models currently available on the market. By the end of the year, there will be 29. The German industry has invested more than 17 billion euros in this effort. To expand its strong position as a leading provider, it is essential to sustain these investments in the future. Public funds can have a leveraging effect in this regard.”
“Now, above all, it is important to create strong incentives to get electric cars on the road,” emphasized IG Metall Chairman Wetzel. Among other things, he said, tax incentives are needed to support the market’s ramp-up. At the same time, the charging infrastructure must also expand. “We are therefore calling for an emergency program for 10,000 charging stations—the government and the private sector should each invest 50 million euros toward this goal. Public procurement initiatives can also provide a strong boost to the market. The federal government should lead by example,” Wetzel urged.
VDA President Wissmann also addressed new challenges facing the automotive industry: “We are not resting on our laurels, but are seizing the opportunities offered by connectivity and digitalization. Policymakers, especially at the European level, should contribute to this: Effective regulations for connectivity, as well as for digital infrastructure, can and should be sensibly established within a European context. In the coming years, we can expect technological change and a transformation of business models. It will be inevitable that we break new ground to maintain the automotive industry’s leading position. One resource is crucial here—the employees of our companies.”
Please note the link: “Heading into a New Dimension”
and “Shaping Change Together with Employees”
