Statement from VDA President Hildegard Müller on industrial strategy presented today by Federal Minister of Economics

"The German automotive industry welcomes the fact that the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, with its National Industrial Strategy, outlines the need for political action to support the transformation of the industry and improve its strategic sovereignty and international competitiveness. The strategy therefore comes at the right time.

The National Industrial Strategy addresses many important topics such as accelerating the expansion of renewable energies and hydrogen production, securing the supply of raw materials and accelerating approval and planning processes.

The strategy rightly highlights the importance of a competitive electricity price. It is all the more important that this realization is now followed by concrete actions and laws and that Berlin finally takes measures, for example to reduce the price of electricity for industry and strengthen international competitiveness.

However, overall it unfortunately remains unclear to what extent the strategy is united within the traffic light coalition and how the measures should be financed. There are also question marks about the schedules. So there are still big questions and tasks ahead of the coalition members. One thing is certain: it cannot remain a matter of mere declarations of intent when it comes to ensuring the competitiveness of German industry and thus prosperity in our country.

It is pleasing that the strategy states the 'accelerated expansion of a comprehensive and needs-based charging infrastructure is crucial for the electrification of transport' and reaffirms the goal of 1 million public charging points by 2030. In contrast, it is incomprehensible that the need for investment in the road, among other things, for the development of a charging and refueling infrastructure for commercial vehicles and the renovation of bridges, remains unmentioned."