To see Germany’s future, look at its cars

As the election approaches, Germany's carmakers will face the same challenges as its new leaders: a need to innovate, tackle climate change and reassess its trade relationship with China. How this world-renowned motor industry navigates the road ahead could tell a lot about Germany’s future.

00:00‌ ‌-‌ ‌Germany‌ ‌faces‌ ‌numerous‌ ‌challenges‌ ‌
00:49‌ ‌-‌ ‌Can‌ ‌Germany’s‌ ‌cars‌ ‌reveal‌ ‌its‌ ‌future?‌ ‌(or‌ ‌whatever‌ ‌the‌ ‌title‌ ‌is)‌ ‌
02:13‌ ‌-‌ ‌Is‌ ‌Germany‌ ‌too‌ ‌reliant‌ ‌on‌ ‌trade‌ ‌with‌ ‌China?‌ ‌
03:46‌ ‌-‌ ‌Germany's‌ ‌reluctance‌ ‌to‌ ‌digitalise‌ ‌
05:09‌ ‌-‌ ‌The‌ ‌race‌ ‌to‌ ‌go‌ ‌electric‌ ‌ ‌
06:41‌ ‌-‌ ‌The‌ ‌future‌ ‌of‌ ‌electric‌ ‌cars‌ ‌ ‌
08:17‌ ‌-‌ ‌What’s‌ ‌in‌ ‌store‌ ‌for‌ ‌Germany’s‌ ‌new‌ ‌leader?‌ ‌

[thomascragg]

As a purchaser of numerous German cars over the past 50 years the biggest thing I have noticed is the decline in quality and reliability to the point my last purchase was Japanese.

[nonnoyobisnis]

I once read an article in The Economist which proclaimed: "Germany is like a car that just went over a cliff at 100 mph - soon it will lose altitude"
That was in 1986!

[NICO]

The automotive industry is essential not only for the Germans, but also for Europe overall. I’m italian and the amount of small/medium sized italian companies who produce components for the german automotive sector is enough to cause a real social economic issue if they had to fail.

It’s in part what allows Italy to stay relevant in the eyes of the Germans, as if these companies had to go bankrupt, it would be a real headache to substitute their components in the short term for the German automotive producers.

[findAplaceToCallHome]

Working for a German company I can tell you when it comes to digitalisation they are right. Germans don’t spend a penny unless it hits the fan and they have no choice anymore. No such thing as being proactive

[vacuumfireradio]

Never ask an Economist to predict the future. The past is littered with their empty promises.

[stevenhombrados]

If Germany’s industry is in trouble, imagine in what state is in the rest of Europe that depends on Germany’s industry!

[Caballingus]

The days of top quality German cars are long gone. And without cheap Russian gas there is going to be no German car industry left anyway.

[keithvers]

The German car industry is in decline because their cars are increasingly unreliable now. VW used to advertise their reliability as their biggest asset. All German cars are poor for reliability now, high in spares cost and not worth the premium prices.

[commanderclueless]

Germany's strength lies in the "small" companies and their innovation.

[BewareOfTheKraut]

The backbone of German economy is the Mittelstand, not the car industry. Many hidden champions there who always followed a long term perspective.

[reziko]

This not a report, this is a masterpiece of contemporary journalism.

[ChatGPT-dpqe]

I work for German company and when you talk about digitalization and benefits that the company can reap is like you are talking alien language.
Germany industry is still living in the 1860 industrialization era and I think their thinking is “if it’s ain’t broke why look for something new?”

[rocktcatU]

The Economist is a joke, they think that the entire world runs on gimmicky social media companies...

Manufacturing and engineering are still the foundation of modern life, Germany will be fine.

[glennalexon]

In suggesting the decline of German industry, you confuse market cap with market share. Tech companies have higher market caps because the value of their stocks is more likely to rise, while car companies tend to be steady earners. Neither measure indicates German car sales, or whether they will sell more or fewer cars in the future.

[ussamanayyer]

I have been living in Germany since 2015…Germany doesn’t like doing flashy things or showing off like Americans or British people…They work smart, hard and in silence…They know their stuff…For dead sure they will overcome theses hurdles as they have been doing for the last decades…!

[deepaksinghalinfo]

This is just awesome how experts can predict everything

[TackerTacker]

Measuring Germans economic performance based on how many large companies they have is like measuring a marathon runners performance based on how many sprints they've won.

Germanys strength is the Mittlestand, medium sized companies that are leaders in their niche markets.

I agree that Germany is behind in terms of digitalization. I mean there is software developed in Germany, it just tends to be less flashy, more boring stuff. Things like machine control software, communication, information and planning tools for businesses, database software, security software, etc.

I think the silicon valley approach of moving fast by breaking things often and early is not something that fits well with the German culture.

[sudombd]

Journalists are called professional experts on nothing for a reason.

[genekelly]

Germany has many strengths...but the insane idea that renewable energy can power a modern manufacturing country will hurt them. Closing down 8 nuclear power plants was a huge mistake. As for German cars-they are very complex and such complexity increases the failure rate. Diagnosing trouble codes is very difficult and time consuming-and repairs on German cars cost a fortune.

[seriouslyyoujest]

Imagine if the USA understood the importance of manufacturing?