Wissmann: "We will become more proactive in the climate discussion”
German automotive industry offers extensive information on its new platform: www.unsere-autos.de
Berlin/Frankfurt am Main, 23 July 2009. "The VDA’s new Internet information platform www.unsere-autos.de presents to the public at large today’s and tomorrow’s innovations in environmental and climate protection. We consider it important that in the public discussion on climate protection and mobility all the reliable facts and figures should be available in a form that is comprehensible to all, free of charge and always up-to-date,” stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). He was speaking at the unveiling of the new web site, www.unsere-autos.de Wissmann added that the German automotive industry was setting standards around the world not only in environmental and climate protection, but also in modern engine technology, quality, safety, comfort and design. He emphasized, "Now everyone can see this clearly on www.unsere-autos.de.
"Unsere Autos” is an initiative of Audi, BMW, Bosch, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Porsche, smart and Volkswagen under the umbrella of the VDA. The German automotive manufacturers and their development partners are working in concert so that this initiative will draw attention in Germany to their technological lead in environmental and climate protection.
The public climate debate has generated numerous questions connected with automobiles and also called individual mobility into question. "However, the new models in particular from our manufacturers are clearly part of the solution for future strategies for sustainable mobility,” Wissmann underscored. Considerable progress had been made in increasing fuel efficiency and the simultaneous reduction in CO2 values, he added. "‘Unsere Autos’ is an initiative of the German vehicle manufacturers in the VDA providing a new Internet platform for sound information regarding their successes in vehicle efficiency that has either already been achieved or is at the planning stage. We – that is the VDA and the OEMs and suppliers alike – are ready and willing to enter into intensive dialog with the interested public. More than ever we are taking the public climate discussion seriously and will play an active part in it,” Wissmann explained.
He went on to say that in recent years the German automotive industry had already undertaken considerable efforts to continually decrease fuel consumption, and with it CO2 output. Since 1999 the CO2 emissions on German roads have been reduced by over one fifth, despite the rising volume of traffic. According to Wissmann the German automotive industry has made a decisive contribution to achieving the targets of the Kyoto Protocol in Germany ahead of schedule.
www.unsere-autos.de presents in a clear, chronological and easily comprehensible form the full range of information about the German automotive industry and the progress it has made in the areas of environmental and climate protection and vehicle safety. For example, the industry’s "broad-based strategy” – which encompasses the different types of powertrains – is explained in detail, including the innovations that allow us to save fossil fuels, and to complement and replace them.
In addition to the disproportionately large rise in vehicle efficiency, the web site also covers the development of alternative fuels and propulsion systems. "The hybrid drive is only one part of a comprehensive answer to the challenges we have to overcome to implement our strategy of sustainable mobility,” Wissmann said, adding that the long-term objective was to have vehicles providing climate-neutral mobility.
The German automotive industry invests around 19 billion euro per year in research and development, Wissmann stated. Half of the ten patent applications filed every day by the German automotive industry promote environmental and climate protection and make tomorrow’s automobiles sustainable, future-proof and competitive, the VDA president declared.
"For over 100 years the German automotive manufacturers and their suppliers have made it their business to build the best cars in the world. The new Internet site documents the developments in detail and explains them clearly with a time line of innovations,” Wissmann said. This multi-brand, extensively linked presentation is unique, he declared, adding, "The web site ‘Unsere Autos’ is therefore also a new communication platform for obtaining reliable information about both the history of the automobile and its future.”
