VDA’s 11th Technical Congress in Wolfsburg – further progress in vehicle safety
Wissmann: German automotive industry remains a pioneer of climate change even during the crisis
Frankfurt am Main/Wolfsburg, 25 March 2009. "The German automotive industry remains a pioneer of climate change even in the most difficult economic times. In January 2009 the average CO2 value of all newly registered passenger cars in Germany was below 160 g/km for the first time, yet in February it fell again by around 7 per cent, to 154.4 g/km. The German brands achieved a CO2 reduction of almost another 5 per cent, so we were considerably more successful than our competitors. For example, the French manufacturers brought their levels down by only a good 3 per cent," stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the VDA's 11th Technical Congress in Wolfsburg. "Today German manufacturers have around 90 models on offer that consume less than 5 l over 100 km, and most of these are clean diesel vehicles. The number of these models has nearly doubled in the last two years and demonstrates the speed of innovation in this key industry," Wissmann said.
Prof. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG, emphasized at the Technical Congress: "Being in touch with customers, and affordable innovations, are the motors driving the success of the whole German automotive industry, and will remain so. Therefore I say that especially in this critical phase we need not less, but even more, research and development. The cars of the future must be developed and produced here in Germany."
VDA President Wissmann welcomed the rapid action taken by the German Government in view of the worldwide economic crisis, which was affecting automotive exports most of all. He added that political measures - the first and second economic stimulus packages, extra funding for short-time working, the increase in loans from the KfW, greater amounts of funding at the European Investment Bank (EIB), along with the CO2-based motor vehicle tax and the scrapping bonus - had stabilized the domestic market and given manufacturers and suppliers some "breathing space." Wissmann said, "The domestic market is currently experiencing an unexpected boom. In February the German carmakers recorded 165,000 more domestic orders, rising to 482,000 units, while sales of year-old-cars rose by two thirds. We can certainly see a chance that over the year as a whole, new registrations of passenger cars will break through the 3-million mark. This means that the new CO2-based motor vehicle tax and the scrapping bonus will fulfill their ‘bridging function' in the current year and balance out the extremely weak export business."
However, even with the current positive developments on the domestic market, the dramatic situation on the export markets must not be overlooked. Three out of four cars built in Germany are exported, the VDA president explained. The consequences of the financial and real estate crisis were affecting the USA worst of all, but had also had a "very severe impact" on the markets in Britain, Spain and many other countries. He added that the crisis was quite exceptional because it was affecting all the markets at the same time and with great vehemence.
"Now the aim is to ensure that the economic recovery packages that have been introduced around the world have the intended affects and that the US economy in particular picks up speed again. Of course this crisis will not be without far-reaching structural changes in our industry. But one thing has to be clear: this crisis is not the end of individual automotive mobility, it is not the end of the automobile, and it is not the end of the automotive industry with its key position in production and employment in Germany. Our strategic goal is clear: we want to emerge from this crisis stronger than we were before, and we will do so," Wissmann stressed.
This assessment was not based on vague hopes, he explained, but on hard facts. "For one thing, German brands are pushing up their shares of the world's key markets. For another, our industry has understood one thing better than any one else - namely that research and innovation, investment in the people behind the technical progress, are the foundation for a successful future," the VDA president underscored. The German automotive industry invests around 19 bn euro in research and development; one employee in nine, or 85,000 out of the total of 750,000, work in this field.
"We will maintain our high level of R+D work even during the crisis, and will continue to develop our holistic strategy for sustainable, individual mobility," Wissmann emphasized. This comprised not only the development of ever more efficient vehicles, but also continual improvements in active and passive vehicle safety. The number of casualties in accidents had fallen continuously in recent years and decades, Wissmann said. The high standard of vehicle safety equipment had made a major contribution to continued improvements in road safety. New driver assistance systems - such as the lane departure warning and the "Attention Assist," which warns the driver of fatigue - will improve safety even further.
The VDA's 11th Technical Congress, which the Association is holding in Wolfsburg on 25 and 26 March 2009, is one of the most important technology events for the automotive industry anywhere in Europe. "No other congress deals with the two core automotive topics of the environment and safety as comprehensively and competently as the VDA's Technical Congress. Here the questions are discussed that will be strategically decisive for this industry in the coming years," Wissmann stressed.
