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Audi boss Markus Duesmann
Photo: Sepp Spiegl / IMAGO
Audi boss Markus Duesmann warns against turning away from the planned end of combustion engines for cars. "In the political discussion, we see the risk that the clear decision by the EU to phase out combustion engines in 2035 will be called into question again," says Duesmann in an interview with the MIRROR.
“That poses the risk of a deadlock, and that would be fatal for the auto industry.” The auto industry needs planning security for its billion-dollar investments.
With this, Duesmann is opposing Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), who has threatened to block the exit from combustion engines.
According to Wissing, combustion engines in Europe should still be allowed to be registered after 2035 if it can be proven that they can only be fueled with synthetic fuels, so-called e-fuels.
“Audi has made a clear decision”
The Audi boss counters that synthetic fuels will not play a major role in the passenger car segment in the medium term.
»Audi has made a clear decision: We will phase out combustion engines in 2033 because the battery electric vehicle is the most efficient method for individual mobility.«
E-fuels are significantly less efficient to produce, which means they are significantly more expensive – and in the long term they would only be considered for forms of mobility in which energy cannot be stored in any other way: »Aircraft will be dependent on e-fuels or the existing fleet, i.e. the cars that are already on the road«, says Duesmann.
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Simon Hage, Martin Hesse
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A SPIEGEL book: The fight for customers, ideas, innovations - how the German car manufacturers want to be back at the top of the world
Publisher: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt
Number of pages: 304
A SPIEGEL book: The fight for customers, ideas, innovations - how the German car manufacturers want to be back at the top of the world
Publisher: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt
Number of pages: 304
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In the past, the Audi boss has always emphasized that he wants to reconcile economy and ecology.
He describes himself as a »black-green«, advocates stricter CO2 targets and repeatedly brought up a freeze on subsidies for plug-in hybrids.
He only rejects bans, for example for SUVs, motorcycles or air travel.
"We don't have to solve the problems of this world by doing without, but by using technology," Duesmann said in an interview with SPIEGEL.
He is pushing forward with all his might a technology »that will take us away from fossil raw materials«.
For Duesmann, the Ukraine war and the resulting global upheavals are no reason to slow down the transformation, on the contrary: the change to e-mobility and green technologies is helping to make Europe less dependent on oil, gas and coal from Russia.
"The war shows more than ever how important it is that we turn away from fossil raw materials," said Duesmann shortly after the start of the Ukraine war.
"Now it's no longer just about climate protection, but also about stability and peacekeeping."
