Central Association of the German Motor Trade (ZDK)
Berlin (ots)
The German Motor Trade Association (ZDK) and Deutsche Automobil Treuhand (DAT) are starting the automotive year 2023 with the first joint industry kick-off. ZDK President Jürgen Karpinski is looking forward to improved supply chains and increasing sales figures, but also sees a wide range of challenges for the Industry: “Anyone who wants to accelerate the ramp-up of e-mobility must also create the necessary framework conditions. However, neither the cuts in subsidies for electric vehicles nor the sluggish expansion of the charging infrastructure fit in with this. We need green electricity in large quantities. If we can do something quickly If we want to do something for the environment, we should fill up the 250 million petrol and diesel vehicles in Europe with e-fuels. That would also help people whose combustion vehicles are currently being devalued. Our mobile society also needs a stable infrastructure, including a well-developed one streets.”
Birgit Priemer, Editor-in-Chief of the trade journal Auto, Motor und Sport and moderator of the event, welcomed the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport, Oliver Luksic, as a guest of the evening. Individual mobility is a piece of freedom, so driving a car must remain safe, sustainable and affordable, Luksic demanded. However, e-mobility cannot be promoted at such a high level in the long term. In addition to battery electrics, you also need hydrogen and a window for electricity-based fuels, i.e. e-fuels. A lot is also happening outside of Germany in terms of e-fuels, it is good to use all the potential to decarbonize car traffic. The new Euro 7 standard, Luksic continues, should therefore be ambitious but also feasible, otherwise this technology would be lost on the world market and there would be a structural break in the German automotive industry.
In conversation with Priemer and Luksic, Dr. Kurt-Christian Scheel, the new general manager of the ZDK, the competence of the motor vehicle trade: “We can do electromobility. We can explain to our customers how it works and we can maintain and repair the vehicles in our car workshops. However, the high prices do widespread use of e-mobility for e-cars is still difficult, which is why we need funding instruments and we have to talk to politicians about this.” In addition, the motor vehicle trade is concerned with the issue of a shortage of skilled workers. Although the automotive trade is particularly attractive for trainees, there is still a lot of catching up to do, for example in the area of school-based vocational training.
In the afternoon, Deutsche Automobil Treuhand (DAT) presented the new DAT report with the most important facts of the automotive industry. Two results: Half of all car owners in Germany are afraid that they will soon no longer be able to afford their vehicle due to current developments, and almost two thirds believe that the technology of electric cars is not yet mature and therefore still want further development wait.
Press contact:
Stefan Meyer, ZDK press officer
Phone: 030/25930677
Email: [email protected]
Original content from: Central Association of the German Motor Trade (ZDK), transmitted by news aktuell
