Technology offensive for climate protection:
German Automotive Industry Invests Record Amount in Research and Development
Frankfurt am Main, February 3, 2009. According to the president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Matthias Wissmann, "the automobile remains the number one engine of innovation in Germany." As Wissman points out, no other industrial sector in the country invests more in research and development (R&D) than the automobile industry. According to a report published by the VDA's Research Association for Automotive Technology (FAT), companies in the German automotive industry invested a total of €18.9 billion in 2008 alone in order to further the development of innovative, climate-friendly, and efficient technologies. This represents a 3.7% increase compared to the previous year.
FAT also reports that as the largest industrial sector in Germany, the country's automotive industry accounted for more than one third of all R&D expenditures by manufacturing companies in 2008. As was the case in 2007, this put it far ahead of the second-place sector, electrical engineering/data processing. The automotive industry is thus continuing the positive trend of previous years and demonstrating its ongoing commitment to environmental protection. "The consistent increase in investment in research and development on the part of the automotive industry shows that German automakers take the challenges associated with climate change seriously," says Wissmann. "In just one year, the industry invested the record sum of nearly €19 billion in measures that included the optimization of combustion technology in order to reduce fuel consumption and the further development of electric vehicles and second-generation biofuels." The German automotive industry registers an average of ten patents per day, says Wissmann, more than half of which involve environmental technologies.
FAT reports that automakers plan to continue this technology offensive, despite the difficult economic situation at the moment. Their goal here is to maintain, and even increase, their high level of investment in 2009. Experts at the VDA therefore believe that investment in R&D will increase further this year. "In difficult economic times like these, the automotive industry needs additional momentum for the development of innovations and new technologies," Wissman explains. "If there's one thing you shouldn't be cutting in a crisis, it's the thing that keeps your engine running, so to speak."
