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Germany produces some of the fastest cars and most luxurious in the world, but the game yesterday.
This month German car manufacturers were affected by the new emission limits proposed by the European Commission There were cries of protest, not least of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor Thus, the proposed ceiling raised slightly , 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer to be achieved by 2012 it nevertheless remained responsible for many of the most prestigious cars in the world with more work in the European Union and six models made in Germany reach the target but 34 of those made by competitors are more, of all cars sold in Germany, which pumps more than 200 grams of CO2 per kilometer, most are German.
This is not a happy state of affairs of a country that loves open the way environmental This does not bode well for the largest industry, which employs one in seven of the spread is expected to benefit the labor manufacturing work of Germany's automakers in the country of Germany their escalating costs of research and development through a greater volume of vehicles, but attempts to drive on mass markets have failed, with the BMW's disastrous return to Rover group in great Britain and marriage DaimlerChrysler now facing divorce.
For now, life seems always pink Volkswagen announced this week a 52 increase in operating profits for 2006 Mercedes, the automotive division of DaimlerChrysler, rebounded after two bad years, sales of Porsche and BMW's seem almost insensitive gasoline prices German stock market barely blinked with new standards of CO2.
Yet Germany are less well placed car manufacturers for the future that other European producers, let alone Japanese German cars could continue to dominate parts of the luxury market performance after all they are packed with state of the art technology but buyers tastes change and they become the environment's state of mind this market is what hit Chrysler sales in America, because it depends heavily utility vehicles SUV fuel-hungry sport and pickup trucks.
And carmaking premium, over-engineering a German familiar Vice becomes Discuss increasingly costly to Boffin DaimlerChrysler or Continental, a large automotive supplier, and he will tell you with ever increasing sophistication pride electronic car sensors that read the road-surface; adaptive cruise control, which responds to other cars; vehicle Internet communication vehicle and Premium cars are those who pioneer new technology, they say German big three, Mercedes and BMW have always been premium brands now they were joined by Audi, a division of VW Porsche over a specialized sports manufacturer All four producers develop in an internal market where nearly one in three cars sold is a top model, compared to just over one in ten cars sold in America German producers could expect to markets in other countries continue to become more like themselves, but the chances of that happening seem increasingly slim that because the pursuit of engineering excellence, greater power, better security and always more efficient engines has pushed up costs.
More than any other nation, the Germans are obsessed with the car, it was invented in their small country can match the elegance of the first convertibles Horch, Audis precursors of today; the presence of an above picture Maybach brand takeover by Daimler and the acceleration of a Porsche 911 hot combines history with flair and the union is complete form German company cars as much as German engineering has shaped the car behind the wheel, the gentle and sociable family men become tyrannical zealots who do not tolerate sloppy and careless driving in motoring along at 125 mph 200kph German motorways, unencumbered by anything so dull as a speed limit are a proving ground given by God for ever faster, more powerful vehicles Porsche or BMW could have evolved in a country where you are fined if you drive faster than 55 mph.
The national obsession allowed Ferdinand Piëch, grand-son of Ferdinand Porsche, the progenitor of Volkswagen and Porsche Marqués, to build an empire based more on passion than common sense in the 1990s, as chief executive of VW, he Bentley bought a British car manufacturer to luxury Bugatti and Lamborghini, a pair of Italian racing car manufacturers, it has supported the development of the Phaeton, a luxury sedan, in an attempt to ennoble even the VW brand M. Piëch , president of VW since 2002, even unveiled the Veyron, a 1,000 horsepower monster capable of some 400kph.
All this has been an expensive sideshow for the VW Group, the biggest European car manufacturer with about 19 of the total market, but M. Piëch, whose family and their relationships Porsche holds all of Porsche's voting rights and recently noted the participation of Porsche in VW April 27, is powerful enough to indulge in his passion.
Germany other patrons of the automobile, Dieter Zetsche, DaimlerChrysler, Wendelin Wiedeking, head of Porsche and BMW Norbert Reithofer to have your feet a little closer to the ground, yet the strong and sophisticated engineering of their products, it is emotion driving the brand that really command the premium that emotion can survive in a world where drivers face more restrictions and greater awareness of the damage they are doing to environment.
Automakers upscale tend to assume a certain level of price insensitivity among their customers, but a new sensibility emerges It could be tax incentives to steer buyers away from the heavy emission cars, other government policies and municipal and change the feeling consumption.
London has extended the area of its traffic congestion charge, which exempts vehicles environmentally Richmond, a district of London, plans to fix the cost of permits-resident parking by the size of a car engine in Germany, the federal government offers a tax on vehicles based on the level of emissions such attempts to influence consumer behavior are likely to increase the VDA association of German carmakers, applauded the move to tax on CO2 emissions rather than engine capacity.
Peter Fuss, automotive expert at Ernst Young, a consultancy, is confident that the German car manufacturers can not only adapt to these new challenges, but grow on them, they may have been slow, for example, to see the need to develop hybrid cars combine electric motors and internal combustion for cleaner driving, but they will quickly catch up, he said the strength of German carmakers has an extensive network of suppliers, combined with research departments of universities , they work closely on new technologies it Sá great chance for Germany as a center of excellence, Mr. Fuss says US automakers, by comparison, have huge problems with their suppliers, it believes.
Jürgen Pieper, auto industry analyst at Metzler, an investment bank, sees the problem as a pure technology, which will be resolved Although it is not resolved in time for the 2012 deadline, companies can probably manage the end premium market simply by paying fines, he said, Porsche and BMW happily do that in America, millions of dollars a year price to exceed the average fuel economy standards, the equity market which seems to take the pragmatic view that automakers will get by emission standards, is cheered by the possibility that Daimler can break free from its loss-making Chrysler division, which values M. Pieper zero.
Despite this show of confidence, German auto companies have not much of a road map for an alternative to fossil fuel engine BMW General Motors GM and Honda are working on a joint project for hydrogen tanks required to power BMW engines fuel cell DaimlerChrysler and GM have partnered on a BMW hybrid disc has developed a completely own car, hydrogen 7 Based on 7-series, it can reach 230kph and travel 200 kilometers on a single tank of fuel Unfortunately, only five service stations in Germany can provide the supercooled liquid hydrogen car needs, so it should run on gasoline as it has other disadvantages, including all the fuel in the tank evaporates if it is not used for nine days the hydrogen car is 20 to 25 years away, admitted M. Reithofer, CEO of BMW, in a e recent interview Even that may be optimistic.
DaimlerChrysler and Audi may be the world leaders in clean diesel technology DaimlerChrysler says its Bluetec fuel available in the United States, made its diesel engines as clean and efficient as a clean diesel hybrid, made from fossil fuels or organic sources, is an attractive response to environmental concerns it is so effective, compared to almost any other source of energy, it is likely to be used, at least in long-distance trucks, for decades to come This is important for DaimlerChrysler, a leading global biggest truck makers, and may have had much to do with recent attempts to forge a triple alliance between MAN Germany, Sweden Scania and making division truck VW Mr Piëch.
What the German automakers have resisted making is a cheap car and cheerful In recent years, VW, he tried with the Lupo But that was undernourished and production ceased because the demand was so weak despite being the largest European automaker, the company has only 6 3 low cost segment in Western Europe, according to a study by Roland Berger consultant.
There is a growing demand for budget cars Logan, built in Romania by Dacia, Renault subsidiary, sells unexpectedly and now Skoda, VW subsidiary plans to build a new low-cost car at its plant in Bratislava.
DaimlerChrysler had a salutary experience with the Smart, a runabout low emission car is small but sophisticated it was sold and maintained separately from Mercedes and unsurprisingly failed to have an impact on dealers and the public now sales intelligent and services were integrated Mercedes and things start to get better, but with a price tag of about 9,500 12470, it is less a car peoples of a yuppie.
One thing could be the change that hinders German carmakers fresh memory of surviving a recession a few years by sticking to their business model and cost reduction which helped them to maintain their exports some 64 who go to other Western European countries.
But now the alarm bells should be ringing with the exception of Mercedes and Renault France, the average age of the models proffered by the major European car manufacturers is increasingly other words new models are down from the sales volume, according to research conducted by M. Pieper at Metzler While German automakers have proven brilliant reengineering and refine their existing platforms, they rarely show the flair associated with something really innovative.
The apparent complacency of M. Reithofer BMW in a recent interview, said all he attributes BMW of growth in volume of sales increased, reduced costs and greater efficiency We're admired by Toyota for our flexibility production, it said that we are able to change the specification of a vehicle just six days before it occurred, he said little about the new concepts that will take BMW at the end of guzzling gas market the company's response to the American public recoil to buy a large SUV, as its X5 was to produce the X3 is smaller, but not much more environmentally friendly.
If the German passion for premium cars also Ebbs will all German automaker more, perhaps Skoda VW Bratislava able to compete.
Only VW among German automakers took advantage of the lower costs offered by the assembly of cars in central Europe built VW Audis, seats and three types of Volkswagen at its plant in Slovakia He also built several cars in Bosnia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland Opel, the German subsidiary of GM builds cars in Hungary and Poland.
Low wages combined with proximity to major western European markets, help reduce production costs despite the additional logistics cost two or three times higher than for cars built in Western Europe, according to research group Fraunhofer Vienna University of technology and an inevitable loss of quality Fearing such a loss of quality, BMW and Porsche have ventured farther than placing plants in Leipzig in the former east Germany Although Porsche Cayenne SUV is done on the same platform as Touareg VW, which is assembled in Slovakia; BMW builds diesel engines in Austria Mercedes is far from being seen east of the Oder River.
BMW and DaimlerChrysler have a relative price advantage, said Wilfried Sihn, head of the Vienna group, but if you go to market with, for example, the Smart or Mercedes A-Class, the costs start saying it provides that BMW and Mercedes will go east, but probably in Romania or Ukraine, as the cost advantage in locating nearest eroding the market of Central Europe is not as great potential such as India China says Sihn, but today, the purchasing power is greater.
But BMW and Mercedes will delay Toyota considered their most dangerous rival is already cars in Kolin, Czech Republic; Moreover Peugeots and Citroens are assembled by an agreement in the same factory Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo, three South Korean producers, Suzuki and Subaru of Japan, and Lancia and Fiat of Italy already dotted about the region then there a Renault Nissan Romania and Slovenia.
The reality is that, for some 15 000 components that go into the average car is in Central Europe, 80 are still imported from the west that will change over time, predicts M. Sihn It Sá kept secret lives that research and the development of production, he said, so it is gradually migrate too.
M. Reithofer BMW will not accept a future where it is too expensive to make competitive cars in Germany Can you imagine an industrial country like Germany in 15 or 20 years without such production, he recently said, I hate to think what would happen here if we lost our production base.
M. Sihn despite his dire warnings, is also confident that somehow Germany remains an automobile manufacturer There will, after all, always customers willing to pay more for exclusivity, performance and luxury even in developing markets such as China and India Whichever part of the market will be remains to be seen German car manufacturers should not be written off and they could still arise some surprises but the trend is turning against them.
If Western Europe is to remain an automotive producer, concluded a recent study Ernst Young must redouble efforts in education and research on the production of components and final assembly migrate elsewhere, according to his opinion survey of German car manufacturers and suppliers, but the brand image and marketing, engineering and design have a chance to stay in Germany and increasingly, even there, said an overwhelming majority of respondents in Germany is the world champion in auto patents its automotive businesses spend 16 billion per year on research and development, said Bernd Gottschalk, President of the VDA.
It would be easier to pay for automobile innovations if costs could be spread over the mass market cars, also, for example, Daimler and Porsche were among the first to accommodate airbags, and these are now available on most cars, small and large But German automakers may struggle to access the mass market buy-Chrysler does not have the answer for Daimler with BMW, he tried to popularize its high-end technology with smaller over-minded economy vehicles like the Mercedes class or BMW Mini But these are not frills cheap cars.
The biggest threat to the German automotive industry could be a disruptive technology, as a new unlikely source of energy or more likely the gradual decoupling of personal mobility emotion judging by the aspirations of millions of Indians and Chinese for personal mobility provided by the automobile in their country, which may not occur for years in emerging markets, but in developed countries, where the infrastructure permits, driving is increasingly integrated traffic management, security and environmental protection devices.
Even car sharing, once rubbished when it was proposed by Eckard Minx, futurologist own DaimlerChrysler who runs a think tank in Berlin, no longer seems an absurd idea, but it also is subversive because it undermines passion sprang from individual freedom and mobility for the first rider climbed on a long-term horse, changing attitudes could even jeopardize the market for German cars very well.
The problem bigcar The Economist, problem, Europe's largest automaker.