“The car industry’s brain”

A large-scale transition to e-cars could shift the power balance between German carmakers and their suppliers in favour of car component producers like Bosch, ZF or Continental, Martin-Werner Buchenau writes in Handelsblatt. The engines have always been “the pride“ of German premium car brands. But “suppliers build the engine”, with e-cars, Buchenau argues. Germany’s suppliers could soon also ramp up their capabilities and produce control units for autonomous cars, as well as battery cells, “to not leave it to the Japanese and Chinese”, he writes. Their flexibility is what makes suppliers a threat for German premium carmakers and will allow them to switch to “more successful customer” companies, whether they come from China, the US – or from Germany, Buchenau says.

See the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers for more information.