Does the powerful auto industry, which has been slowed down by Corona, get government aid - and if so, how much and for which drives? The heads of government of the car countries talk about it. Some suggestions from the industry go very far.
Wolfsburg / Stuttgart / Munich (dpa) - Volkswagen has spoken out in favor of extensive support before deliberations by the Prime Ministers of Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg on possible car purchase premiums in the Corona crisis.
They will campaign for "that politicians provide money for this impulse," VW works council chief Bernd Osterloh said in a letter to the employees on Wednesday. "We know that we are using it to call for tax revenue," it says in the letter that dpa has. "But we also know that this money could be invested wisely for our entire society and could therefore pay off multiple times - namely economically, ecologically and socially."
The heads of government of the three car countries - Stephan Weil (SPD), Markus Söder (CSU) and Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) - want to join forces in the afternoon. Weil announced on Monday at the restart of the VW main plant in Wolfsburg that he would consider a conceivable bonus model: "We are aware that we need a quick decision." VW CEO Herbert Diess called for "early, powerful measures". Söder told the Süddeutsche Zeitung: "I am in favor of a very comprehensive strategy on how we can help the automotive industry."
According to the ideas of the VW works council, a funding model should include, among other things, an "impulse premium" for new car purchases including leasing, which also applies to modern combustion engines and runs over "a clearly limited period". It should be as high as the "scrappage bonus" in the 2009 financial crisis and should also extend to young used cars up to the age of one year.
Osterloh also wants an "additional scrappage bonus on top", which is available for scrapped end-of-life vehicles that comply with the Euro 3 and Euro 4 emissions standards. In the opinion of VW, the German manufacturers should agree that, depending on the amount promised, government funds "may even double, or at least assume the switching costs". In addition, CO2 emissions should be given greater consideration as a basis for assessing vehicle tax.
Environmental protection organizations criticize proposals to subsidize hybrid, petrol or diesel cars in addition to cars with alternative drives. "It is not expedient to promote vehicles whose technology is not forward-looking," said the Baden-Württemberg BUND head of state, Brigitte Dahlbender. "If anything, there can only be a purchase premium for small, purely electric vehicles."
Greenpeace traffic expert Benjamin Gehrs recently commented similarly. "When the federal government promotes old drives in the most fundamental change in the history of the automotive industry, they mistake the accelerator pedal for the brake," he told dpa. In the midst of the change to e-mobility, "the German manufacturers could only make up for their deficit in the turnaround in mobility and climate protection if all resources were now used to expand clean mobility solutions."
Söder had said last week that he wanted to sit down with his two colleagues from Hanover and Stuttgart to think about ecological bonus models and to give the new generation of engines and cars a chance after the endurance phase. The car manufacturers had to shut down their plants over several weeks due to the corona-induced drop in demand and interrupted supply chains - drastic sales declines are the result. Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) advocates new aid for the auto industry if funding is concentrated on climate-friendly vehicles.
