International VDI Conference "Vehicle Transmissions"
Wissmann: Increase sustainability – with electro-mobility and conventional drive systems
Frankfurt am Main/Friedrichshafen, 30. Juni 2009. "Electro-mobility will be a significant component of a sustainable mobility concept in the future, but until then the conventional engine will continue to be the dominant drive concept. Gasoline and diesel engines have by no means reached the optimization limits. The German automobile industry will therefore improve upon the conventional drive systems and at the same time continue to advance alternative systems to series production readiness." That is what Matthias Wissmann, president of the Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA), said troday at the international congress "Vehicle Transmissions" of the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (Assocaition of German Engineers, or VDI) in Friedrichshafen.
"Our industry will continue to bank on research and innovation, especially in the crisis, in order to guarantee affordable individual mobility in the future, too ", as Wissmann went on to explained. Guaranteeing sustainable mobility is the greatest task of the vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. The estimate of mobility needs in the coming years makes clear that despite the current bottoming out of growth because of the financial and economic crisis, transportation needs will see substantial growth, explained the VDA president .
"Therefore as the number one form of transportation, it is necessary to design the most efficient, environmentally compatible and safe automobile as possible. That is the only way that the industry can maintain its leading position in the art of engineering and capacity for innovation ",Wissmann said. "And only with this capacity for innovation can the goal of sustainable mobility be attained. Because they are mutually dependent." In this context the VDA president praised the establishment of a federal government program of 500 million Euros to accelerate the development of alternative drive systems.
Wissmann emphasized in his speech at the VD congress that the current crisis does not mean the end of individual mobility. "It is not the end of the automobile, and it is not the end of the automobile industry and its key position for production and employment in Germany. After this crisis we will continue to develop, build, and sell attractive automobiles - and we will do all those things successfully."
"The triad of environmental incentive, duty suspension for automobiles and automobile tax reform fulfils the political assignment to stabilize domestic consumption ", as Wissmann described the current market situation in Germany. The measures strengthen the domestic passenger vehicle demand in light of the global financial and economic crisis, especially in the lower and mid-market segments, the VDA president continued, pointing out at the same time the negative aspects of the environmental incentive: "An instrument like the environmental incentive involves advantages and drawbacks. That includes the inequitable distribution of success, because the demand enhancement is targeted toward the domestic and foreign manufacturers of smaller vehicles and compacts ", according to Wissmann.
In addition Wissmann referred again to the difficult situation facing the supplier firms. "Unfortunately what we see is that the protective umbrella extended over the credit institutions by the federal government has hardly fulfilled its task. It may well be that the banks are shoring up their own capital and to re-establish their business on a more solid footing, but the real purpose of the protective umbrella is to secure the credit supply to the real economy. This makes possible in the first case a positive economic development, a braking of the negative trend in the gross domestic product and finally a revival of demand and production ",Wissmann said.
In the automobile industry, especially among the supplier firms, this goal is only partially being fulfilled. Some companies have to fight to secure credit, have their credit lines curtailed and face less favourable conditions, as the VDA president explained. "In fact what is actually needed in the current situation is an increased extension of credit lines. There are some banks that are just playing along, although in the framework of the stimulus -program of the KfW a large part of the risk can be covered. Now the banks have to show their responsibility", Wissmann demanded in conclusion.
