Env min Hendricks: German government “disappointed” with carmakers over cartel allegations

German environment minister Barbara Hendricks said the German government was “disappointed” with the country’s major carmakers amid claims they formed a cartel to agree on prices, suppliers and technological standards. It would be a major “loss of trust” in the automotive industry by German authorities if the allegations were true, Hendricks said during a visit at carmaker Volkswagen’s headquarter in Wolfsburg. She added that the car industry’s importance to the entire German economy meant that carmakers “of course would find an open ear” in the government if they wanted to voice their concerns. “But maybe this relationship has gotten a little too close”, Hendricks said, with respect to criticism that the state failed to exert effective control over the industry’s dealing with emissions limits. She said external controls for car emissions were going to be intensified. And former complaints by carmakers that tighter environmental standards led to diminished competitiveness “never turned out to be true”. The minister also criticised a study by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) which said about 620,000 jobs in Germany depended on the combustion engine, as being “simply wrong”.  

For more information, see the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.