{"id":63164,"date":"2025-09-14T08:15:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T08:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/63164\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T08:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T08:15:25","slug":"german-car-industry-seeks-fightback-amid-slumping-market-share-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/63164\/","title":{"rendered":"German car industry seeks fightback amid slumping market share \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Munich\u2019s trade fair is too vast to count as a last-chance saloon. Yet that was the framing for Germany<\/a>\u2019s car giants at this year\u2019s IAA automotive trade fair \u2013 Europe\u2019s largest: a make-or-break moment to secure Germany\u2019s automotive future.<\/p>\n

Its recent past has been gloomy with Germany\u2019s car industry delivering just four million cars last year, its lowest level \u2013 pandemic excluded \u2013 in 30 years.<\/p>\n

Jobs in the industry are down nearly 10 per cent in just seven years, with a further wave of cuts looming. In each of three key markets \u2013 US, Europe and China \u2013 German brands, taken together, have a share of less than 20 per cent.<\/p>\n

In case anyone has been asleep in Germany, a KPMG<\/a> industry report warned of looming \u201cdeep changes in business models, production and processes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Chinese brands, led by BYD<\/a>, already account for six of the top 10 car registrations worldwide and the IAA exhibitor index saw a 40 per cent jump in lesser-known Chinese<\/a> carmakers such as Omoda, Jaecoo, GAC and Xpeng.<\/p>\n

Leading the fightback, BMW<\/a> attracted the most attention with the launch of its new electric iX3, the first model in a new affordable vehicle category.<\/p>\n

Mercedes-Benz<\/a> presented two new electrics: the CLA compact and an SUV, the GLC. After a series of recent flops, and promises of more \u201cquality and innovation\u201d, Mercedes chief executive Ola K\u00e4llenius delivered the trade fair\u2019s fist-biting moment when he tried \u2013 and failed \u2013 to open the CLA\u2019s spacious new car boot.<\/p>\n

As an amused chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a> looked on, K\u00e4llenius said: \u201cYou\u2019ll just have to believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merz used his Munich visit to throw his weight behind domestic car companies and what he called a \u201ckey industry for the prosperity of our country\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo other sector is so closely linked with Germany\u2019s reputation and image,\u201d he said. \u201cOur goal is that Germany will belong in the future, too, to the leading locations for car companies and manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aware that goals can be missed, Merz will hold yet another summit of car companies and suppliers next month, a gathering that is likely to highlight the political divisions within his own government.<\/p>\n

The chancellor\u2019s Bavarian allies demand Germany push for \u201ctechnological openness\u201d \u2013 code for \u201csave the petrol\/diesel motor\u201d \u2013 and want Berlin to push back against the European Union\u2019s 2035 cut-off for combustion engines.<\/p>\n

But the Merz centre-left Social Democratic (SPD) coalition partners have warned that \u201cfurther political flip-flopping\u201d would hurt more than help the domestic car industry.<\/p>\n

German auto analysts agree. Even the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine daily newspaper \u2013 no friend of top-down mobility policy \u2013 saw the writing on every wall in Munich: Renault<\/a>, it noted, was the only company presenting a new petrol model.<\/p>\n

After a late start in e-mobility, German VDA car lobby head Hildegard M\u00fcller said her members now have 120 different electric models<\/a> for sale. <\/p>\n

That Germany\u2019s pure electric market share is still stuck at 19 per cent, industry and analysts agree, is because politicians and local authorities have failed to deliver on their promises for widespread fast-charging infrastructure, battery production subsidies and a dedicated, lower energy tax rate for car charging.<\/p>\n

Leading a new industry push on the combustion engine, Volkswagen<\/a> chief executive Oliver Blume suggested Europe would be better served by \u201crealism\u201d rather than outright bans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see electromobility as the leading technology of the future,\u201d he said, after presenting the new ID.Polo, \u201cbut I consider it unrealistic that by 2035 we will have exclusive electromobility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the sharp headwind from China, Germany\u2019s one-time automobile rivals presented a remarkably united front in Munich. Even if their message had a touch of Monty Python: not dead yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Munich\u2019s trade fair is too vast to count as a last-chance saloon. Yet that was the framing for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[27674,79,26607,381,179,18,8888,6622,6621,19,17,1126,44700,44701,1298,44702],"class_list":{"0":"post-63164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-bmw","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-byd","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-economy","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-electric-vehicles","15":"tag-friedrich-merz","16":"tag-germany","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-kpmg","20":"tag-mercedes-benz","21":"tag-renault","22":"tag-tesla","23":"tag-volkswagen-vw"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}