The East German automotive industry complains about unequal competition with China, but rejects the EU's threat of punitive tariffs on Chinese e-cars. "Yes, the extent of the Chinese government's subsidies to domestic car manufacturers is a clear distortion of competition," Jens Katzek, Managing Director of the Automotive Cluster East Germany, told the German Press Agency. Punitive tariffs would not solve the challenges facing the local automotive industry.
Innovation instead of trade conflict
"Instead of entering into a trade conflict that we cannot win, we would be better off doing our homework," said Katzek. This includes reducing bureaucratic barriers to innovation and making the location more attractive and competitive.
According to figures from the German Association of the Automotive Industry, around 834,000 cars were recently manufactured in eastern Germany each year, more than half (55 percent) of which were electric cars. Their share is therefore more than twice as high as for Germany as a whole. Added to this are trailers, bodies and vehicle parts and accessories. In eastern Germany, 266 companies with 20 or more employees are directly attributed to the sector. They generate an annual turnover of 40.9 billion euros.
