Stolen car keys VW files criminal complaint against Greenpeace

Status: 23.06.2021 3:09 p.m.

A Greenpeace campaign in which 100 stolen VW keys were brought to the Zugspitze has legal consequences: the Volkswagen Group has filed a criminal complaint against the environmental protection organization. Around a month after the Greenpeace campaign against Volkswagen in the port of Emden, the car manufacturer took action and filed a criminal complaint against Greenpeace. “We do not tolerate any violations of the law”said a VW spokeswoman in Emden. However, she emphasized that VW was still interested in a dialogue with the environmental protection organization. The criminal complaint suggests a change of heart among the Wolfsburgers: Initially, they reacted surprisingly moderately to the Greenpeace campaign at the end of May and initially waived a criminal complaint.

First of all, understanding and loose tweets

In order to protest against what they considered to be the slow change to electromobility at VW, the activists climbed over a fence onto a loading area in the port of Emden and removed the ignition keys from unlocked cars that were ready for shipping overseas. Shortly afterwards, the organization brought the keys to a glacier on the Zugspitze in Bavaria. There she was supposed to pick up VW boss Herbert Diess after her introduction.

Instead of directly filing a criminal complaint, Diess replied loosely on Twitter: “Gladly Zugspitze, but today I can’t manage anymore – I don’t want to use the plane. Coming soon in good weather?” And VW brand boss Ralf Brandstätter expressed understanding in a detailed comment on the action on his LinkedIn profile that “change is not going fast enough for many”.

Investigations are already running ex officio

Theft as part of the climate debate culture? The public prosecutor and the police had already seen it a little differently before the change of heart at VW: They are already investigating ex officio against around a dozen activists on charges of trespassing and particularly serious theft. In order to initiate criminal prosecution, today’s criminal complaint from VW would no longer have been necessary.

Investigations also after Greenpeace action at the EM

Last week, a Greenpeace campaign directed against VW failed at the German national soccer team’s first EM game. Shortly before the game against France kicked off, a paramotor plane staggered over the Munich arena and finally landed on the field. He came dangerously close to the audience, two men had to be hospitalized because of their injuries.

Numerous politicians condemned the action in the strongest possible terms. The police are investigating various offenses under the Criminal Code and the Aviation Act

Sports car manufacturer What Porsche is planning for the electric future

Status: 06/22/2021 9:24 a.m.

As a rule, Porsche tests new technology first on the race track – including a new high-tech battery. Because there are no suitable batteries on the world market, Porsche will produce them in-house in the future.

From Tim Diekmann, SWR

If you sit in the new Porsche Taycan, you don’t have to do without the usual sound. Although the first fully electric Porsche should glide almost silently across the street, it sounds either like a bubbling sports car or – when accelerating – like an intergalactic rocket. Porsche calls this “Electric Sport Sound” – because the Swabian car manufacturer does not want to deliver its newest vehicle completely without sports car noises. The luxury sports car, which Porsche sold 20,000 times worldwide last year, is only supposed to be the beginning of an electromobility initiative.

High-tech battery made in Germany

In just two years, every third Porsche should be equipped with an electric motor – as a hybrid or fully electric. For this, Porsche needs lots of powerful batteries. But they are hard to find on the world market, says Porsche boss Oliver Blume: “We need high-performance cells for our electric sports cars. But we can’t find them anywhere at the moment. That’s why we develop and build these cells ourselves.” The first battery cells are expected to roll off the assembly line from 2024, initially for around 1,000 vehicles per year. “The focus will initially be on small series for racing and high-performance vehicles. In the future, however, this is not just about racing cars,” explains Blume at the official presentation at the Porsche Development Center in Weissach. In the first step, innovative technologies are usually only developed for a limited high-tech application, “but once the innovations have proven themselves there, they will gradually establish themselves across the board. That must be our goal. At Porsche, that’s what we call it Principle: from motorsport to series production. ”

Range model Tesla

For battery cell production, the Stuttgart-based company is working with the German company Customcells, which it claims to be a world leader in the development of lithium-ion battery cells. The joint venture operates under the name Cellforce Group.

According to automotive expert Stefan Bratzel from the Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch-Gladbach, it is logical that, after Volkswagen, Porsche is now also relying on the production of its own battery cells: “The battery cell accounts for the largest part of the car’s added value, and it has a lot of innovation potential . Automobile manufacturers who develop competencies in this area have a long-term competitive advantage. ” According to Bratzel, Porsche should not chase after the competition for the US electric car manufacturer Tesla, but rather must lead the way as an innovator.

New battery technology promises many advantages

According to the head of electrochemical energy technologies at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research in Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Markus Hölzle, the batteries as we know them today should still develop their potential: “Everything can, must and will be improved Above all, however, the cost of battery cells must be reduced further. And the energy density must also increase so that the batteries become more compact. ” The ability to recharge quickly is also important. To do this, Porsche wants to work with so-called silicon anodes, which “has two major advantages over the previously used carbon: it improves the ability to charge quickly and increases the energy content,” explains Hölzle. But now Porsche must first show that they can do it.

But while Porsche is still planning the future, competitor Tesla is already building the world’s largest battery cell factory in Grünheide near Berlin and promises a production capacity of 100 gigawatt hours per year, a thousand times as much as Porsche’s subsidiary Cellforce Group.

Climate neutral by 2030?

The focus on e-mobility and the setting of climate targets is an important step for the brand, emphasizes car expert Bratzel. “Porsche is a brand that nobody really needs, but many people want to have it because of its positive image. And I believe that it is becoming more and more important for the Porsche clientele in particular to say: ‘I have a sports car and still drive in a climate-friendly way . ‘”

Climate protection has long since become an image factor. This also shows the ambitious goal of the Swabian car manufacturer to be “balance sheet CO2-neutral” by 2030 and thus earlier than Daimler (planned for 2039) or Volkswagen (planned for 2050).

Environmentalists are skeptical

The environmental protection organization Greenpeace is skeptical whether Porsche will really be climate-neutral by 2030. “Unfortunately, ‘climate-neutral’ on the balance sheet ‘usually means that in the end generously cheap CO2 credits are bought from offsetting projects instead of consistently reducing CO2,” says Benjamin Gehrs from Greenpeace. With its large SUVs, Porsche consumes an unnecessarily large amount of resources. Porsche must also get out of the business with climate-damaging diesels and gasoline engines faster and more consistently than before.

So will the Porsche 911 possibly soon hit the streets as an electric car? Unlikely. In addition to battery cell technology, Porsche is also working on the development of synthetic fuels, so-called eFuels, which are to be produced using renewable electricity. Artificial sports car sound, as in the Taycan, is then unnecessary. At Porsche, the first step is to advance research in the field of battery cell development. The federal and state governments support the project with 60 million euros

report

VW factory in Emden When 8,000 employees have to rethink

Status: 19.06.2021 10:18 a.m.

In the future, only electric cars will roll off the assembly line at the VW plant in Emden. This means billions in costs for the group – and many changes for the employees. And some jobs will probably disappear.

From Sebastian Duden, NDR

“What is that again?” Andreas Buse looks at his trainer questioningly and points to a magnetic picture that he should hang in the right place on a board. “This is the heater for the battery, which is also in the front of the vehicle.” It is about basic knowledge of the new electric cars that are to be built here at the Volkswagen plant in Emden from 2022. All 8,000 employees at the site go through the training.

It doesn’t work without a plug

It will be more special for the production staff at the next station. Buse has to be even more careful. This is about plugs. He’s trying to build a cable to an electric car charger. It doesn’t work, and he has to find the problem. “Ah, okay, a pin is bent, that’s why it doesn’t work.” His instructor nods. “So don’t just check the connector, but always look at the component to see if nothing is bent.” Plugs – they will be even more important in the future, so they have already been. Without a plug there is no flow of electricity, and then they cannot even drive the cars out of the hall. “To know that the vehicle cannot be delivered at all and that a fault then has to be laboriously searched for, that is something I have great respect for,” says Buse.

No oil, no engine compartment

One hall further is the ID.4 – the electric car that will roll off the assembly line here from 2022. It’s an SUV, weighing more than two tons. Much of the weight is caused by the large battery. Depending on the model, the ID.4 should travel up to 500 kilometers.

“The dipstick is no longer there, oily fingers, the time is over,” says project manager Hanno Greune. He opens the “bonnet” of the car, which actually doesn’t deserve the name anymore, because you won’t find an engine here. That is not much more than a “technical room”, he admits, there are now fans and heaters, for example. “In our vehicles, the engine is on the rear axle,” says Greune. He points to a plain black cover in the trunk. Underneath is a comparatively small unit – about the size of a sports bag.

So far mainly the location for the production of the VW Passat, in a few years pure electrical work: the factory in Emden. Image: picture alliance / Jochen Tack

The VW plant in Emden is already the size of an entire district. It is now being expanded again towards the Ems. For this purpose, foundation piles had to be driven 30 meters deep into the muddy subsoil. The largest hall has 45,000 square meters. A total of six new halls and logistics buildings will be added. The expansion will cost one billion euros. “The renovation is the most massive that the site has ever gone through,” says plant manager Uwe Schwartz. “We are massively involved in all structures. We are creating more than 100,000 square meters of new space.” Schwartz was brought in specially for the renovation. Before he headed the planning staff at the main plant in Wolfsburg, now he can implement the ideas developed there on site.

Simpler technology, fewer jobs

Volkswagen relies entirely on electric drives. The conversion should be a clear commitment to electric drive – even if experts can imagine other drive types in the future, for example in combination with synthetic fuels. For a transitional phase of three years, VW wants to build cars with internal combustion engines in Emden at the same time.

“Emden is the first location in Lower Saxony that will then be completely converted to vehicles with electric drives,” says Schwartz. Up to now, the “Passat” models in particular have rolled off the production line at the plant. Electric vehicles, however, have a much simpler drive than petrol and diesel. Most of them not only have more complex engines, but also finely graduated gears and gearshifts. All of that is missing in an electric car. As a result, manufacturers actually need fewer employees to build them.

Fewer employees needed to build e-cars

The works council in Emden sees the problem and expects the loss of some jobs. However, new employees are also needed elsewhere, says Works Council Chairman Manfred Wulff. For example in digitization. “We still need bodies that have to be pressed and painted, so we won’t lose a lot of work. The fact that we no longer have the classic engine will be eliminated.”

Experts predict that in the worst case scenario, it could hit a third of those employed in vehicle construction during the transformation phase. But they see it differently in the works council in Emden. There they even wished to switch over to electric car construction as quickly as possible. After all, the sales figures for the classic VW models have not developed positively. The alternative would have been to build more models with internal combustion engines at the Emden location in order to utilize the capacities. Then it would be better to have a clear future perspective, according to the works council. This is how Andreas Buse sees it, who is now back on the production line and wiring the engine compartment of the Passat and Arteon models. “Sure, there will be restructuring, but I’m not afraid of it.” Many of his colleagues will probably go into partial retirement in the course of the restructuring. However, he is only 32 years old. And he is also looking forward to the changes. Even if he will miss the Passat, as he admits when asked

More and more electric cars Boom for Battery manufacturer

Status: 06/17/2021 10:13 a.m.

The growing number of e-cars on the streets is causing the battery market to grow strongly. One EU country in particular can catch up significantly with its Asian competition.

From Oliver Feldforth, MR

For years it was talked about, now the boom in electric mobility really seems to be there. Electric cars are very popular at a leading Frankfurt dealership. One seller says that what is delivered to him can also be easily sold.

The electric cars have contributed to the fact that the corona pandemic could not harm the battery market in Germany. Last year there was an increase of 35 percent. “Above all, the volume of the market for lithium-ion batteries has increased enormously,” says Christian Eckert from the Central Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry ZVEI. Overall, this segment grew by 63 percent. And that is mainly due to electromobility.

The recycling rate should increase

A battery is only as green as the material and the electricity used to make it. Even the electric car is only as green as the electricity with which it is charged. When it comes to battery recycling, German industry is on the right track, said Christian Rosenkranz, Chairman of the ZVEI Batteries Association. The recycling rate for classic batteries is 80 to 90 percent, while it looks worse for lithium-ion batteries, which are in increasing demand. The industry wants to achieve a rate of 65 percent in four years.

Environmentalists see a need for action. “It is not only in Germany that we have to set high social and ecological standards for the production of batteries,” says Benjamin Stephan from Greenpeace. “The car manufacturers are responsible for this, but politics must set clear rules for all companies.”

Poland leads the way in Europe

Germany imports batteries. The manufacturers from Europe overtook the Asian competition for the first time last year. In Europe, Poland is the leading producer, in Asia it is China, according to Christian Eckert from the ZVEI.

And electromobility will continue to grow. Volkswagen sees it that way too. The car manufacturer plans to set up six battery cell plants of its own in the next few years. According to Ralf Brandstätter, head of the Volkswagen brand, by 2030 at least 70 percent of all new Volkswagens in Europe should be electric vehicles, in North America and China more than half.

Solid-state batteries as the technology of the future

The decision as to which drive for cars comes after the classic combustion engine seems to have been decided for the time being. “The battery-electric drive is the most efficient and significantly more economical than fuel cells and combustion engines,” said Benjamin Stephan from Greenpeace. “With the same amount of renewable electricity, a car with a fuel cell can only go half as far as a battery-electric one.”

In the case of car batteries, solid-state batteries are to replace lithium-ion technology. It does not require cobalt, which under questionable circumstances is mainly extracted in Africa. For environmentalists, electromobility is only part of the necessary turnaround in traffic. And so Greenpeace is also calling for a change in mobility towards an intelligent transport system in which bicycles, buses and trains play a bigger role

Missing computer chips Short-time work at VW and Daimler

Status: 16.06.2021 10:23 a.m.

Time and again, the production lines in car plants stand still – the manufacturers refer to the industry-wide shortage of chips. Now it hits Volkswagen and Daimler again. When will the situation improve? From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de There will be stoppages in the coming week at the VW main plant. In the Tiguan, Touran and Tarraco production as well as in the Golf production in the late and night shifts, the Wolfsburg switch to short-time work. In the Daimler plants in Bremen and Rastatt, short-time work is already the order of the day. The reason is once again the industry-wide shortage of chips.

06/08/2021

Interruptions cost billions

It is nowhere near the first time that the shortage of semiconductors has slowed automakers’ production. It was not until the end of May that the VW luxury subsidiary Audi at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm locations suffered production interruptions. BMW had been hit a few weeks earlier. The Ford plant in Cologne is also affected. The German auto industry is not alone with its problems: The US auto giant Ford calculates charges of around 2.5 billion dollars this year due to the lack of chips. The problems in the automotive industry have consequences for the entire economy. Just today, the researchers at the Munich Ifo Institute lowered their forecast for the growth of the German gross domestic product this year from 3.7 to 3.3 percent. To justify this, they also referred to bottlenecks in the delivery of intermediate products such as semiconductors.

Improvement in the third quarter?

It could take a few more weeks for a change for the better. According to experts, the automotive industry is heading for the lowest point. “We are facing the toughest six weeks,” said Murat Aksel, VW Board Member for Purchasing, recently in an interview with the “Handelsblatt”. The situation should improve again in the third quarter. Competitor Daimler also expects an improvement in the second half of the year. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) also estimates that the situation should ease from July.

Around four million cars less

Because of the lack of chips, automakers worldwide produced 1.4 million fewer cars in the first quarter and 1.6 million in the second quarter, the BCG experts calculate. For the entire year 2021, the failures are likely to amount to four to six million vehicles.

05/04/2021

The consulting firm Alix Partners in Munich estimates 3.9 million cars. This corresponds to a value of non-produced cars of around 91 billion euros.

Lessons from the shortage of chips

The car manufacturers have long since learned their lessons from the shortage of chips: They are carefully reviewing their supply chains and are not only expanding their warehousing for chips. After all, the supply chains have thinned out after a pandemic for more than a year, even for important intermediate products, for example in the chemical industry.

06/07/2021

Security of supply is suddenly a priority again after years of just-in-time delivery. Chip manufacturers are also taking strong countermeasures and are pushing ahead with expanding their capacities at full speed. In Germany, the new high-tech chip factory from Bosch ensure regional supplies.

Misjudgments as the cause

But how did it come to that? Where does this lack of chips come from, which is currently keeping the auto industry and its employees in suspense? With the outbreak of the corona pandemic, demand for cars collapsed and chip manufacturers cut their production plans.

05/31/2021

When the demand for new vehicles suddenly increased surprisingly in the summer of 2020, chip manufacturers such as Infineon or NXP were overwhelmed by the demand. The current chip shortage is therefore based on a whole series of misjudgments – on the part of car manufacturers and suppliers, but also on the part of chip manufacturers. The lack of chips also shows that the auto industry did not come through the Corona crisis as badly as feared.

From Till Bücker, tagesschau.de Combating climate change is hardly conceivable without electromobility. In order to remain competitive, the German producers are catching up after initial hesitation – especially Volkswagen. “Let me make one thing clear right away: The battery has won the race,” said VW boss Herbert Diess at a recent event. The battery won. It is the “only remaining option to get traffic CO2-free.” The Wolfsburg-based group is relying on the transformation like hardly any other car manufacturer. The company plans to invest around 35 billion euros in the coming years. Around 70 all-electric models are planned by 2030. 60 percent of all new VW cars should then run on batteries.

Electromobility in Germany is making headway

German drivers also seem to be slowly getting involved with e-mobility – among other things, thanks to purchase premiums from the federal government and many new models. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), more than 13 percent of new registrations in 2020 were purely electric cars or plug-in hybrids that are equipped with a combustion engine in addition to the battery. For comparison: in 2016 it was less than one percent. The rise continues this year as well. In March alone, every tenth new car was battery-electric. The market share of cars with alternative drives (battery, hybrid or hydrogen) is currently 37.6 percent and thus higher than ever, as the KBA announced last week. The most popular brand in the first quarter of 2021 is VW. According to its own information, the group currently has a market share in e-mobility of just over 34 percent in this country.

Tesla is the “benchmark”

Despite its top position in its home market, another group is still number one among electric cars worldwide: Tesla. The market share of the California-based automaker, which announced its quarterly figures on Monday evening, fell in Germany from 30 percent in 2019 to nine percent most recently. From a global perspective, however, boss Elon Musk’s company is still ahead. The company sold last year almost half a million e-cars . That was 36 percent more than in the previous year. In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla delivered 184,800 vehicles – a new record. Above all in what is probably the most important market for electric cars in China, the US group has escaped the Germans. Every third Tesla is sold in the People’s Republic. Even on American roads, there is no getting around the electric pioneer when it comes to e-cars with a market share of 80 percent, as the data from the US new registrations show. “Tesla is an important benchmark for us,” Diess recently admitted. The VW boss is an avowed fan of Musk, and he regularly describes his company as the measure of all things in the automotive world. According to the economic sociologist Andreas Boes, who investigated the effects of the Tesla shock on German industry on behalf of IG Metall, Tesla is the harbinger of a new mode of production. The e-car manufacturer gave the decisive impetus for the change in the automotive industry. “The company from California puts its finger in the wound,” said Boes at the Hanover fair.

Tesla with competitive advantages

But what are Tesla’s strengths? What makes Musk & Co. a pioneer? “Tesla has actually set benchmarks in certain areas,” emphasized Stefan Bratzel, Director of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the Bergisch Gladbach University of Applied Sciences, in an interview with tagesschau.de . Without Tesla, electromobility would not have existed at this speed.

Stefan Bratzel is Director of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the Bergisch Gladbach University of Applied Sciences. Image: picture alliance / dpa Competitive advantages are, for example, the competence in battery technology, the control of their superchargers – i.e. fast charging stations – and their reliability. The German carmakers reacted too late on these points, and there are deficits, especially in the area of ​​charging infrastructure. VW only presented its plan in March to build six so-called gigafactories for the production of battery cells and to set up 18,000 public fast charging points. Another great advantage of Tesla is the special vehicle architecture with its own operating systems and chips. Volkswagen, on the other hand, is buying the software. “That puts Tesla in a position to be better than the German competitors,” said the auto expert. Tesla also has a lead in the production area. You manage to pull up plants within a short time and the degree of automation is also higher.

VW can reach the masses

However, when it comes to innovation in the battery-electric field, VW is catching up a lot and is on Tesla’s heels. In addition, the German group also has pluses. With the modular e-drive kit (MEB) he developed a functional system for the production of e-cars, with which, according to Bratzel, a large number of models can be set up: “Volkswagen is a specialist in rolling out such a strategy for different brands, Segments and regions. ” While Tesla offers a rather narrow model range and has long relied on premium products with the Model S and Model X, the VW Group also includes the brands Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat in addition to its own models such as the ID. “VW sometimes takes a little longer to implement an innovation, but can then quickly bring it to the masses via the series,” says Bratzel. The Wolfsburg-based company intends to sell more than a million e-cars annually worldwide by 2025 – including medium and compact classes. Another trump card: VW already has a global production network. Tesla is also trying to build up that – among other things through the new plant in Grünheide – but is still far behind, according to the expert. Advantages of western manufacturers are also the quality of the body, the chassis and the workmanship of the interior.

Will VW become the world market leader?

So could the German carmaker pose a serious threat to Tesla? “If things go well, the VW Group will become world market leader in electric cars in 2022”, Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the Duisburg CAR Institute recently claimed in an interview with “DER AKTIONÄR”. Expert Bratzel also agrees with this: “The large number of models in particular can mean that Volkswagen has a great chance of becoming the world’s largest manufacturer in 2022 or 2023 even with pure electromobility,” he predicts tagesschau.de . For a long time, Tesla led the field by a large margin. But now there are competitors who could be dangerous for the Californians. It now remains to be seen which new innovations Tesla will bring out in order to maintain the lead: “The race is getting a lot closer – both in terms of innovations and sales figures.”

From Steffen Wurzel, ARD studio Shanghai In the country of origin of the Covid 19 pandemic, Corona hardly plays a role anymore. The economy is running again. This can be seen in the automotive industry, among other things. Analysts expect the Chinese auto market to grow by at least six percent this year.

Strong growth in electric cars

According to experts, sales of electric cars in China will increase at an above-average rate, which means that an increase of 70 percent is possible in the People’s Republic this year. So far, the US car company Tesla and numerous domestic e-car startups have been selling electric cars in China. The latter are called, for example, Xiaopeng, Nio , Li-Auto and Aiways. So far, these brands are hardly known in Germany. Nevertheless, China’s bustling e-car companies have made a difference in the boardrooms of the three major German car manufacturers. As far as China is concerned, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen are now also focusing on electromobility.

German manufacturers with trade fair premieres

This can be seen from today at the auto show in Shanghai. Mercedes is showing its battery-powered models EQA and EQB, BMW is presenting the iX and the ID6 is having its world premiere at Volkswagen. Some analysts criticize that the largest German car company Volkswagen entered the e-mobility sector in China far too late. That rejected VW China boss Stephan Wöllenstein at the start of the fair. “Volkswagen almost has a good tradition of coming a little later, but all the more violently. That will probably be the case again with electromobility,” said Wöllenstein. “I think we’ve done our homework right now.” This gives the group the chance to make customers an offer that many competing companies, especially e-car startups, find it very difficult to find.

World’s largest auto show with almost no foreign visitors

With around 1000 exhibitors, “Auto China” in Shanghai is the largest auto show in the world. There will be almost no visitors from abroad. Because China’s leadership has kept the borders of the People’s Republic almost completely closed to foreigners for a good 13 months. This year, the trade fair in Shanghai is primarily a Chinese industry get-together.

In an international comparison, according to a new study, the German car manufacturers have survived the corona crisis best so far. This is the result of a study by the consulting firm EY, which was published before the start of the auto show in Shanghai today. Accordingly, Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW, with a combined decline in sales of ten percent, a drop in sales of 14 percent and a decrease in operating profit of 26 percent, fared significantly better on average than large manufacturers from other nations. Across the industry, the total sales of the 17 largest manufacturers worldwide fell by 13 percent in the previous year, according to the EY study. The car sales went down by 16 percent, the operating result by as much as 37 percent. The French brands were hit particularly hard. According to the study, only four companies had a positive profit development: Tesla, Daimler, General Motors and Kia.

China supports the industry

It is above all the flourishing business in China that saved the balance sheets of Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler. In 2020, more than every third new car (39.4 percent) was handed over to a Chinese customer. If you look at all 17 of the world’s largest car companies, the total sales of cars from these manufacturers in China only fell by four percent. In the US, the decline was 14 percent, in Western Europe, sales fell by 25 percent . Constantin M. Gall, Head of Automotive & Transportation at EY, explains: “While some companies got deeply into the red, others came through the crisis comparatively well, largely due to their regional sales focus, but also very much because of their current product portfolio is driven. ” “Companies with a large share in China benefited from the relatively stable development on the Chinese sales market. Those who are primarily active in Europe, on the other hand, had to accept massive losses,” said EY auto expert Peter Fuß.

Fair open to visitors

This also explains the great importance of the auto show that is now starting in Shanghai. Around 1000 exhibitors will present their products to hundreds of thousands of visitors in more than twelve halls by April 28th.

If you want to visit the fair in person, you have to show a negative corona test. In addition, visitors have to have their body temperature measured and use a mobile phone app to prove that they have not been in risk areas.

Praise for German automakers

The big topics of the fair are e-mobility and connectivity. And it is precisely in these areas that industry observers attest that the German representatives now have a good market position after a mixed start. They are now faster, more determined, said the German management consultant Peter Hage from the Beijing-based Districom Group. “The Volkswagen Group has done a very good job with the electric cars,” said the director of the Center for Automotive Research, Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. “The China strategy at VW-Audi-Porsche-Skoda is right.” Mercedes also started “lively” with new models in Shanghai. “Only BMW has been very hesitant in the past,” said Dudenhöffer. That is about to change: the German carmaker wants to generate a quarter of its sales with the sale of electric cars by 2025. This was announced by BMW China boss Jochen Goller in the run-up to the Shanghai Auto Show. Last year the share was around four percent.

From Jörg Ihßen, NDR For trade fair boss Jochen Köckler, one thing is certain: The first major international trade fair that took place purely online “went much better than we all thought.” But the lesson for the future is “that a digital trade fair cannot replace the magic of a physical event”. 1800 exhibitors presented themselves on the trade fair platform from Monday to Friday. That was a fraction of the usual 6,000 companies that have presented their robots, logistics systems or packaging tapes at one of the largest exhibition centers in the world in recent years. All exhibition halls except for Hall 18 were deserted. Despite all the pandemic-related adversities: As usual, the industry met in April to advertise itself. With the Chancellor, ministries, associations. Just stop in front of the screen this time.

“Better than nothing”

For Gernot Gehrke, Professor of Management and Marketing at the University of Hanover, what has happened to the 70-year-old “showcase of industry” is what has long since become apparent in the past few years. “It’s not about renting out square meters, but rather creating a basis of trust for business contacts and joint economic activity.” The Internet is only the second best solution here. Better than nothing”. After the pandemic, it will now be a question of how real visits to trade fairs of this type and online support will complement each other. VW CEO Herbert Diess, whose hundreds of square meters of booths were still one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fixed points of contact in 2019, presented his mobility strategy for just 15 minutes and then asked questions in the chat. In the purely digital encounter, “a lot falls by the wayside,” says the manager who steers the traditional automotive industry towards e-mobility and digitization. Because it is about the lasting effect of trust. “And that is where personal encounters are extremely important.” But the mere fact that every logged-in visitor could ask the CEO directly questions about hydrogen technology, synthetic fuels or possible cooperation partners at the Hanover Fair is a new quality feature of the Hanover Fair 2021.

Digital trade fairs are not a permanent replacement

But purely digital trade fairs will not be a substitute for face-to-face fairs in the long run, believes Jörn Holtmeier, Managing Director of the trade association for the trade fair industry. “It is simply not possible to move everything into virtual space.” Winning new customers and the opportunity to test products is only possible in real exhibition spaces. It was a “test case”, according to trade fair boss Köckler in Hanover. In the end there are 90,000 participants who have accessed more than four million pages on the industrial platform with the Hannover Messe logo. Search queries to companies or specific technical products were made 800,000 times. The appeal by Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries: “More than ever, we need to grow out of the Corona crisis with new solutions and business models.” Financially, the effort for the exhibition company was not really worth it. A small profit is probably at the end, hopes Köckler.

For hours in front of the screen?

“Overall interesting, a positive experience. But I hope for a hybrid solution in the future,” said Christian Wendler, CEO of the automation experts Lenze. In Hanover, however, the “character towards an information and contact congress” was continued well. However, just like classically counted customer contacts, click numbers are no guarantee for business deals. Customer care is more appropriate. From his point of view, it is important that the exchange of top entrepreneurial decision-makers was still possible during the pandemic. The balance sheet for both the exhibitors and the organizers is clear: It was the only possible alternative this year. And this will change future trade fairs. How exactly a mix of personal contacts in Hanover and internet connections can look like remains an exciting question. But one thing is certain: nine hours in front of the screen – hardly any trade fair visitor would want that in the future either.

VW not only has to pay damages to damaged diesel buyers. The company now has to reimburse a customer for the cost of financing the car because she took out a loan to buy the car. That was decided by the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe.

Financing by home loan

In the specific case, the plaintiff had bought a used VW Golf Diesel from a car dealership in 2013. To finance the car, she signed a loan agreement with the VW bank and borrowed more than 3,000 euros. Later it turned out that the manipulated EA 189 diesel engine was installed in the Golf, which only complied with the prescribed exhaust gas values ​​on the test bench, but not in road traffic. After the diesel scandal became known, she returned the Golf and demanded compensation. That was awarded to her – after deducting the interim mileage. In addition, the VW customer demanded the interest she had paid on the financing loan. This was already awarded to her in the lower court, but Volkswagen appealed to the BGH on an appeal. This has now made the final decision. Regarding the reasons for the judgment, the chairman of the BGH judge Stephan Seiters said that in the event of immoral damage, the claim for damages would also include these costs: “The buyer is to be treated as if it had not been purchased.”

A precedent ruling by the BGH?

To what extent the judgment can also be transferred to other VW customers, the plaintiff and defendant disagree. According to the purchaser’s lawyer, Florian Rosing, the BGH ruling is significant for thousands of customers, as the majority of car purchases were financed by loans. It is about an interest refund of several thousand euros on average. VW announced, however, that the BGH judgment could not be applied to all financed vehicle purchases. Most of the VW Bank loan agreements contained a “documented right of return” whereby the customer could return the vehicle at an agreed price at the end of the loan period. The BGH did not currently have to decide on the interest claim for these contracts. So far, courts have decided differently whether the claim for damages also includes the financing interest. Ref. VI ZR 274/20 With information from Klaus Hempel, ARD legal editors