Dear reader,
can it still be a combustion engine, or is the time already ripe for the change?
Anyone who wants to buy a new car in the new year will inevitably ask themselves this question.
By 2030, 40 percent of new cars sold worldwide should be electrically powered.
Politicians want to see the turnaround to electromobility quickly: But are the car manufacturers even able to make the change at this time?
It's not just about range, enough charging stations and affordable electric cars.
In order for the traffic turnaround to succeed, gigantic quantities of critical raw materials are needed for the battery cells.
Lithium, nickel and cobalt are scarce and in demand: car manufacturers such as
Volkswagen
and
Mercedes-Benz
are now taking matters into their own hands – they are establishing partnerships or participating in mining projects to secure supplies.
Nevertheless, the situation remains critical.
"There will never be enough raw materials for the announced gigafactories," adviser
Wolfgang Bernhart
warns in an interview with my colleague Anna Driftschröer.
It's not just the quantity that counts, but also the quality of the raw materials, as is the case with crude oil.
And in many cases, ores are mined for which there is not yet an industrial refinery process.
"It's all sewn to the edge," warns Bernhart.
Read here what Germany's car manufacturers have to do now so that they are not left without the necessary raw materials later in the middle of the electric boom.
The business news of the day:
Inflation in Germany down:
The inflation rate in Germany fell to 8.6 percent in December.
In November it was still 10 percent.
The drop in
oil and gas prices
was the main reason for the decline.
Nevertheless, inflation is still at a high level: For the past year 2022, the Federal Statistical Office expects average inflation of almost 8 percent, the highest level since reunification in 1990. The dramatic effects inflation can have can currently be seen in Turkey: there the inflation rate is 64 percent.
The number of unemployed is falling:
Despite the war in Ukraine, inflation and the economic crisis, the number of unemployed in Germany fell in 2022.
On average, 2.4 million people were unemployed last year.
That is almost 200,000 fewer than in 2021. The labor market is therefore more robust than expected.
Pollution rights bring in more than 13 billion euros for the federal government:
Trading in emission rights brought record revenues of 13.2 billion euros to Germany last year.
This is mainly due to the higher price: Anyone who blows a tonne of CO₂ into the air had to pay an average of 80 euros for it in 2022.
In the previous year it was still around 52 euros.
What else kept us busy:
Why a judgment against Tesla should alarm the car world:
The electric car
maker Tesla
has to pay a fine of 2.2 million dollars in Korea, which the
Korean antitrust authority
has sentenced it to.
That sounds like a trifle for Tesla, but it is not: The authority complains that the range of the electric cars sold by Tesla is in practice significantly less than promised.
And this topic has explosive power, also in
Germany
and
Austria
are already taking lawyers to court – not just against Tesla.
Our colleague Claas Tatje has analyzed whether the often embellished range information for the manufacturers can develop into an expensive boomerang: The officially punished range bluff in distant Korea should at least alarm the manufacturers in this country as well.
The right strategy this year:
"The essence of strategy is deciding what not to do," wrote Harvard thought leader Michael Porter.
This is all the more true in times of crisis.
If you too want to refresh your knowledge of the most important topics in management at the beginning of the year, you've come to the right place at our "Winter School": Our colleagues from Harvard Business Manager present you with the most important articles on the topics of team leadership, strategy, diversity and management in compact form.
My recommendation for the evening:
An expert for decarbonization:
Among the 100 most influential women in German business, she is one of the youngest - and is there, together with nine other colleagues, on the watch list for higher tasks:
Magdalene Böbel
, who at just 32 years of age, made the topic of decarbonization
a big one at
Infineon
has expanded his business, is one of the top talents in the German economy.
Lena is currently giving, as they all call it, around 120 chip specialists in the Infineon division "
Power & Isolation
" the direction. It's about components for optimal power distribution: Since the chemist Böbel has been responsible for the integrated circuits, more and more of them are installed in electric cars or battery storage. The sales and profit of the division are pointing steeply upwards, as well like Böbel's career opportunities.Böbel told our colleague Eva Müller how far her journey can still go: The personal insight shows how strongly young top managers are now responsible for change in the German economy.
Cordially, your Kai Lange
PS: Do you have any requests, suggestions, information that we should take care of journalistically? We look forward to your mail at chefredaktion@manager-magazin.de.