When there is talk of the amalgamation between the automotive industry and politics, at least the middle-aged and older people in this country think of Gerhard Schröder: How many pictures are there of the former chancellor and defender of VW currywurst in a good mood with car bosses demonstrate. His policy was coherent: Schröder, so they say, was the car chancellor.
That this is a glorification was shown once again this week: The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel is providing the industry with a billion – to help transform the industry. You have to say another billion. It is a kind of last farewell gift after a chancellorship rich in gifts.
It was the first Merkel government to provide five billion euros for motorists in the country in the crisis year of 2009. The so-called scrapping premium mainly helped mass manufacturers who got rid of their cars better. On the other hand, providers of alternative means of transport went mostly empty-handed in 16 “Merkel years”. How shockingly little the government – especially the transport department – sought to talk to them is well documented.
Instead, they fought against stricter emissions regulations, which would have cost manufacturers and customers: the CO₂ hurdles, i.e. ultimately the permitted fuel consumption, shouldn’t be too harsh, the Germans successfully put forward in Brussels for a long time – and even in the USA. “Your standards are too strict,” Merkel once complained in California.
And then the diesel scandal: German authorities also had clear indications before the discovery – but the government and the subordinate administration did not react. Merkel was meanwhile “angry” about the fact that someone was cheating. But their government then continued to intervene in Brussels because of a too rapid switch to e-mobility and because of supposedly too harsh emissions regulations, which the heavy, large cars from Audi, BMW and Mercedes could hardly comply with. The industry was also able to avert a tough retrofit requirement.
It is this balance sheet that – sorry, Gerhard Schröder – makes Angela Merkel a true car chancellor.
Now that is not only worthy of criticism, just as not every donation is to be condemned across the board. The 800,000 people employed in this industry will see it differently. The sales bonuses are certainly helpful for their jobs, as is the current billion, which is intended to make it easier for small and medium-sized suppliers in particular to enter the electronics world. And don’t forget: other nations also support their domestic auto industry.
With her too much affection for the auto industry, however, the Chancellor did not help either the company or the country in the medium term. Valuable years were lost in the battle of retreat for the combustion engine. Lots of time in which to push the industry into a faster turnaround. Time for German manufacturers to now have to catch up with rivals like Tesla. There is now more targeted funding for e-cars. But many things, such as the infrastructure of charging stations, could have been advanced much sooner. As far as alternative mobility concepts are concerned, it looks no different.
In view of digitization and climate change, the mobility of tomorrow will no longer be one in which only one’s own car counts – the offers are changing, and the rules are also changing. This also means that the days of auto chancellorships are over. Tomorrow we need a mobility chancellor.