Citizens’ reluctance to embrace electric drive shakes the automotive industry. Germany examines postponement of abolition of internal combustion engines. DW analysis

Last Thursday, Bosch, the largest supplier for the car industry worldwide, announced that it would make 13,000 job cuts by 2030. At the beginning of the year he had mentioned 9,000 layoffs. The decision was justified by the decline in demand, especially for the part of electric vehicles, which obliges the company to close specific units.

A day later, Volkswagen said it would send its employees to two October -vehicles on October 6th from October 6th in Tsvikau and Dresden. In contrast to the Wolfsburg plant, which produces vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines, extra shifts will be needed to allow the company to meet demand.

A lasting crisis

There are two news that reveals aspects of the serious crisis, which has been going on for months now. Since last summer, 51,500 jobs have been lost to the German automotive industry, 7% of the total potential and forecasts are also talking about further redundancies and even in traditional units, such as that of Ford in Cologne. At the latest Munich Motor Show, the subject was dominant in discussions behind the impressive kiosks and ambitious presentations.

The space is suffering and this is not irrelevant and with the reluctance of citizens in both Germany and in Europe as a whole to embrace electric drive in a saturated market anyway.

In 2020, 3.5 million cars were sold in Germany, while in 2024 only 2.8 million. This reduction corresponds essentially to the production of the two largest German units. The China market has to face prices competition from its domestic production and Trump’s duties are an additional problem for the difficult US market. Attempts by the Directors of the largest German companies to come to separate, direct agreements with Trump have not yet proceeded. BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Opel, Porsche, Audi, all businesses have been hit by others less and others more than the “virus” of the crisis.

Ready for the big turn

In this context, the turning -edge of Berlin is not very impressed. Chancellor Mertz had talked about the problems of the site at the Munich IAA Exhibition.

He now leaked that he intends to call a summit in Berlin, probably on October 9, the heads of all the major in the industry in order to reach a joint crisis response plan and to propose measures at the EU level.

However, in a position during an event on Friday afternoon, the Christian Democrat Chancellor showed the direction in which he is thinking of moving. The German government wants to propose to the Commission the removal of the decision to ban the sale of vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines, which has been set for after 2035. In the Chancellor’s opinion the solution should be given by the industry itself with the help of the development of technology and not some technology. After all, it will be the “market” that will give the answer.

In the ranks of Christian Democracy in Germany and Europe, relative thought matures for a long time. German industrialists seem to believe in solutions, such as synthetic fuels and further improvements in combustion systems, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while further improving electric motors and creating a related network that is currently unlikely and is unlikely.

“This deadline must be revised significantly or even completely removed,” BMW CEO Oliver Tsipse said recently. Anyway, as Mertz pointed out, and after 2035 they will continue to move over 40 million conventional vehicles on the country.

Just 3.3% of electric motors

49 million cars are currently declared in Germany, of which only 1.65 million purely electric or 3.3%. This ratio is not expected to be radically changed within the next decade, unless all the vehicles sold until then were only electric, which does not fit even in a science fiction scenario. And if this is the case in “rich” Germany one understands how much more difficult things are in other “poorer” countries.

The information, then, says that Germany is looking for allies in other EU capitals to push the Commission to lift this ultimatum, an evolution that could be described as historical, and would once again prove that (el): the end … of the … many decisions that are being announced.

According to Mertz, the landscape should be clear immediately and not in 2026, as the Commission has promised. He said he had a clear picture of the issue, although he admitted that everyone in the government coalition did not agree with him, mainly on the part of the Social Democrats.