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Merkel's “Auto Summit”: Audi is starting electric car production today, of all times - a coincidence?

2021-03-24T05:26:46.989Z


Angela Merkel invites you to the "Car Summit". The future of the auto industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs is at stake. Are gasoline and diesel engines stalling? All information in our news ticker.


Angela Merkel invites you to the "Car Summit".

The future of the auto industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs is at stake.

Are gasoline and diesel engines stalling?

All information in our news ticker.

  • On Tuesday evening, Angela Merkel discussed the future of tens of thousands of jobs with heads of government and representatives of the automotive industry - a heated discussion had already flared up beforehand

    (see first report on March 23)

    .

  • The automotive industry promises a complete switch to climate-neutral engines - but it will take forever until that happens

    (see update from March 23, 3:20 p.m.)

    .

  • On the A 39 near Wolfsburg, environmental activists abseil from a bridge to demonstrate against the expansion of the motorway - criminal charges are the result

    (see update from March 23, 4:20 p.m.).

  • Of all things: A few hours before everything will revolve around electric cars at the “Autogipfel”, Audi starts production of its new Q4 e-tron e-car in Zwickau

    (see update from March 23, 5:20 pm)

    .

Update from March 23, 5:20 p.m .:

Just in time for Merkel's “Autogipfel” in Berlin, at which a lot or almost everything will revolve around electric motors, Audi started production of its new Q4 e-tron electric car today.

It is the first all-electric SUV model that the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer produces at a German location.

To this end, Audi is returning to its former place of birth in Zwickau, Saxony.

In the multi-brand factory there, the new electric SUV runs from the same production line as the Volkswagen ID.4 and will be another VW model in the future.

1,400 Volkswagen Sachsen employees are now also producing the Ingolstadt e-car there.

Incidentally, the last vehicle with a combustion engine rolled off the production line in Zwickau in the summer of 2020.

Merkel's “car summit”: fatal blow for combustion engines?

Activists abseil off the bridge and block the motorway

Update from March 23, 4:20 p.m .:

Curious scenes before the “car summit” with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the A 39 near Wolfsburg: Two environmental activists have roped off a bridge in protest against the expansion of the motorway between the VW site in Wolfsburg and Lüneburg .

This was reported by several media outlets, citing a DPA report and statements from the local police.

The Lower Saxony State Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection described the expansion as "nonsense" in view of the upcoming traffic turnaround.

The A 39 northbound had to be closed for around 90 minutes.

A larger police presence was on site, it is said.

The officers arrested the two people.

She was expecting a criminal complaint for coercion and dangerous interference in road traffic, said the police in Wolfsburg.

Merkel's “car summit”: 150 billion for e-mobility - death knell for combustion engines?

Update from March 23, 3:20 p.m .:

Before the “car summit” with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Tuesday evening, the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has promised to switch completely to climate-neutral engines - but not until 2050.

VDA President Hildegard Müller made the promise to the editorial network Germany on Tuesday afternoon.

"To this end, companies will invest around 150 billion euros in e-mobility, new drives and the digitization of vehicles over the next few years," she explained.

Merkel's “Auto Summit”: EU climate targets can only be achieved with the electric car?

The industry representatives want to discuss the promise with Angela Merkel this evening at the “Auto Summit” in Berlin.

It should also be clarified how the climate goals can be implemented with the help of new technologies and what framework conditions and rules are required for this in Germany and Europe.

Meanwhile, the vice-parliamentary group of the Greens, Oliver Krischer, demanded a clear commitment from Merkel's “car summit” to the plans of the European Union (EU).

Among other things, the commission wants to tighten the limit values ​​for carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicle fleets in order to achieve the updated climate targets.

In 2030 - 20 years before the German automotive industry wants to switch to climate-neutral engines - at least 55 percent fewer greenhouse gases are to be blown into the air than in 1990.

"Auto summit" with Merkel: Motor vehicle trade beside itself - "Don't wait until the bankruptcy wave rolls around"

Update from March 23, 2.10 p.m.:

In the hours between the two political summits - first Corona, now the car - Germany's car dealers spoke up.

They reacted with incomprehension to the tightening of the lockdown and its extension beyond Easter and sharply criticized the ongoing closure of the car dealerships.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, car dealerships are almost as safe as staying outdoors due to their spacious sales areas, but also due to the low customer frequency and protective requirements, said the President of the Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry (ZDK), Jürgen Karpinski, on Tuesday.

Patience and understanding had been used up, he told the AFP news agency.

Before the “car summit” with Merkel: Many livelihoods are at stake

“We cannot and must not wait until the bankruptcy wave rolls around.

Politicians must show ways of action and must no longer shut our country down, ”said Karpinski.

Many livelihoods in the medium-sized motor vehicle trade are at stake.

After a marathon meeting on Tuesday night, Angela Merkel and the country leaders agreed to continue the measures currently in force to contain the rising number of infections until April 18.

A tightened lockdown applies over Easter.

“Car summit” with Merkel: Is the combustion engine getting upset today?

First report

from March 23:

Berlin - After the "Corona summit" is before the "Car summit": It rises on Tuesday evening with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), the heads of government of the federal states and representatives of the automotive industry.

The latter expect answers and support from politics.

The discussion will focus on structural change in the industry.

Should it fully rely on climate-friendly drives such as e-mobility?

Is the internal combustion engine being sidelined?

What is the German policy on stricter EU pollutant limit values?

And above all: What does this all mean for the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are directly affected by these questions?

A heated discussion broke out in the run-up to the “Auto Summit” - mainly because the future of internal combustion engines is also at issue today.

IG Metall sees the desired structural change in the automotive industry, for example, as being associated with considerable risks for employment.

The first chairman of the union, Jörg Hofmann, therefore warned against a premature and premature end of the internal combustion engine.

ADAC technology president Karsten Schulze also warned of a fixed ban on the internal combustion engine.

He is certain that such a step would stifle the innovation potential that he still attributes to gasoline and diesel engines today.

Meanwhile, Germans are becoming increasingly skeptical about e-cars, as reported by BW24 *

"Car summit" with Merkel: From 2030 the Greens only want to allow emission-free cars

As expected, the Green politician Cem Özdemir takes a slightly different point of view than IG Metall.

He told the German Press Agency in the run-up to the “Auto Summit”: “We Greens only want to allow new emission-free cars from 2030 so that everyone involved finally has planning security Employees and the climate.

The problem with the whole thing: Especially with many small and medium-sized suppliers, many jobs are currently attached to the combustion engine.

A total of around 850,000 direct employees currently work in the automotive industry in Germany.

The manufacture of electric vehicles is less labor intensive.

There may be thousands of jobs at stake.

Before Merkel's “car summit”: rumors about climate target emergency brake and new emission limits

The “fuel vs. electric drive” duel is particularly explosive in the European context: The European Union (EU) is planning far more stringent climate targets by 2030. That would mean significantly more electric vehicles.

In addition, plans are to be submitted to the EU Commission in June for stricter exhaust emission limits, which should come into force as early as 2025.

"If the rumors are confirmed, this would herald a premature and premature end of the combustion engine without any alternatives being available," warned IG Metall chairman Jörg Hofmann.

“It mustn't come to that,” he said in the run-up to today's “car summit”.

IG Metall positions itself clearly on the combustion side, but still supports the introduction of the planned Euro 7 emissions standard - at least if the corridor of what is feasible is adhered to.

"Autogipfel": Complete zero emissions is "technically impossible, and everyone knows that"

Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) recently spoke out against a short-term tightening of exhaust gas regulations by the EU, which regulate pollutant emissions from cars and trucks such as nitrogen oxides.

"The Ministry of Transport will take a very negative position in the Euro 7 debate," he told "Welt am Sonntag".

Despite the resolutions, the limit values ​​must remain technically feasible.

The President of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Hildegard Müller, had already warned in November 2020 of a de facto end for cars with internal combustion engines from 2025: “The Commission wants to stipulate that in future a vehicle must remain virtually emission-free in every driving situation - be it with a trailer on the mountain or in slow city traffic.

That is technically impossible, and everyone knows it. ”* BW24 

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Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-03-24

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