German auto industry will invest more than €220bn in research and development by 2026

The manufacturers and suppliers of the German automotive industry will invest more than €220bn in electromobility including battery technology, digitization and other research fields between 2022 and 2026. In this period, the German automotive industry invests more than €44 billion annually. This is more than the federal budgets for economy & energy (€10.6 billion), for education & research including astronautics (€20.2 billion) and for international cooperation (€10.8 billion) will encompass together in 2022.

"The innovative strength of companies in the German automotive industry is unique in the world. With this spending on research and development the industry is demonstrating its determination to make the transformation an international success story. The large investments are expressing our will to enable climate-neutral mobility as quickly as possible," explains VDA president Hildegard Müller.

Müller continues: "With these investments and innovations the German automotive industry wants to continue to manufacture the world's safest, most efficient, high-quality and climate-neutral vehicles for all segments.

In addition to digitization, the mission of climate neutrality is a task of the century and an enormous opportunity. We want to be a global example of a transformation that is geared towards climate goals and at the same time creates prosperity, economic growth and jobs."

Particularly important: "Those who have the world's highest climate targets also need the best site conditions worldwide. We now need faster approval and planning procedures, massive investments in infrastructure and competitive taxes and energy prices," emphasizes Müller. It is also important to have an active foreign policy that advocates trade agreements. The same goes for energy partnerships in order to secure the supply of raw materials and renewable energies in the long term and to adapt them to needs.