"It is in general good and appropriate that the Commission President von der Leyen also addressed the automotive industry in her State of the Union. We are currently hosting the global automotive industry at the IAA MOBILITY in Munich and are demonstrating how record investments and innovative solutions have put the German automotive industry in a leading position in the climate-neutral and digital mobility of the future. Meanwhile, the weak competitiveness of Europe as a location is increasingly becoming a major challenge and burden for the transformation.

With regard to von der Leyen's—as yet undefined—'small affordable car initiative', it is true that the pressure to produce small cars economically is of course high. However, in order to produce more affordable vehicles—and this expressly applies to all vehicle classes—the automotive industry needs appropriate framework conditions. But Germany and Europe as production locations are increasingly facing serious price disadvantages in global competition. Electricity prices, for example, are far too high compared to the USA or China. High labor costs, taxes, and levies are a burden on the location, and excessive regulation is jeopardizing its competitiveness. In addition, Germany is at the top when it comes to tax burden and bureaucracy. There is a lack of trade and raw material agreements. All of these problems have been known for a long time. Therefore, anyone who wants cars produced in Europe to become more affordable cannot avoid improving the location's conditions.

Furthermore, linking these plans to local content requirements would be the wrong approach. The automotive industry's supply chains are internationally positioned and interwoven. Thus they create growth, prosperity, and jobs in Europe, as well as in many other countries. Isolation also always carries the risk of backlash from other countries and could thus backfire—especially for the export-oriented automotive industry—and jeopardize jobs in Europe. 

The development of a battery value chain in Europe is also crucial for the successful ramp-up of e-mobility. Given this background, we welcome the announced €1.8bn package for battery production in Europe. The goal must be to establish Europe and Germany as leading locations for battery development and production. The implementation of the funding must be timely, administratively manageable, and flexible, and must be linked to a deliberate industrial policy strategy.

Furthermore, the still planned CO₂ calculation of the EU Battery Regulation is neither expedient nor strategically sensible, and it completely contradicts the EU's current approach. The life cycle assessment of a battery would be calculated across the board based on the national electricity mix of the member states, and renewable energy certificates would be rejected. The EU must immediately abandon this proposal. Instead, it must be ensured that production sites can also manufacture batteries in Germany, for example, through direct contracts for the supply of CO₂-neutral energy.

At the same time, the battery is only one component, and the EU as a whole must work more vigorously on Europe's attractiveness and competitiveness as a location so that our industry can maintain and expand its global leadership position—and continue to do so in the future with investments in Germany and Europe. Therefore, it is crucial and time-critical that Brussels now changes course in light of the excessive regulation and the lack of competitiveness of our location. Only in this way we can create a success story for prosperity, growth, employment, and the climate.

The second round of the strategic dialogue would actually offer the opportunity to initiate and advance precisely this change of course. The recent tariff negotiations with the US have once again ruthlessly revealed that economic weakness is weakening Europe's negotiating position and relevance on the global stage. Another clear indication of the necessary change of course.

It's also important to emphasize the issue of CO₂ regulation and the urgently needed flexibility and openness to technological options. Anyone who analyzes the realities—whether with regard to energy prices, raw material supply, the development and expansion of charging infrastructure, and many other indicators—will inevitably come to the conclusion that a rethink is inevitable.

We are convinced that climate protection cannot be achieved with a single-technology strategy. Electric mobility will predominantly be the powertrain of the future, but plug-in hybrids, hydrogen, and renewable fuels must be recognized as components of the solution on the path to climate-neutral mobility. This mix offers strengths that will help achieve climate targets without the need for politically determined specific shares today.

That's why the EU must now—as demanded in the German auto industry's 10-point plan—refrain from regulations based on fines and biased technology specifications. We urgently need the review processes to conduct an assessment of the various systemic challenges. Flexibility is crucial for the success of a long-term project—that is, the ability and willingness to successfully adapt to a changing situation.

This also means, in concrete terms, that the fleet regulation reduction target must be adjusted to –90% starting in 2035. The remaining CO₂ emissions can be compensated, for example, by means of more ambitious targets for the share of renewable fuels in the RED. Our goal is to reduce CO₂ emissions in transport while simultaneously strengthening Germany and Europe as industrial locations in a changing world and ensuring the competitiveness of the automotive industry.

This also requires comprehensive and bold reforms. Excessive regulation has also held Germany and Europe back in international competition. Rather than leading to imitation, it has deterred other countries from pursuing more climate protection. Excessive regulation is not a competitive advantage; it is the opposite. This also includes the recognition that bans and one-sided commitments to technologies and solutions are counterproductive.

Affordable energy prices, a competitive tax and levy system, a massive reduction in bureaucracy, and speed and consistency in concluding trade agreements as well as raw material and energy partnerships must now be political priorities.

This must be understood in Brussels—only in this way the economic turnaround will succeed. And only in this way growth, innovation, prosperity and jobs will be at home in Germany and Europe.

Brussels is now on the move! The future of Europe's key industry is at stake."