OEM&Lieferant Ausgabe 2/2021

85 Editorial Behaviourally optimistic Dear readers, Faster than expected, the German economy could have overcome the Corona-related slumps before the end of this year. In its monthly report for July 2021, the German Bundesbank forecasts that gross domestic product (GDP) could return to its pre-crisis level as early as the third quarter. German OEMs have also come through the crisis with a black eye. Despite considerable investments in new models with climate-friendly drives – mainly hybrid and electric vehicles – they are clearly back in the black – supported not least by an ear- ly upswing in the Chinese market. Some have taken advantage of the crisis and significantly improved their productivity with targeted restructuring. However, certain factors are clouding the positive development so far. Despite high order intake, some OEMs had to announce short- time work again for some of their factories - this time not due to the economic situation, but because of supply shortages, especially for semiconductors. And these bottlenecks in material supply are not of a short-term nature. Critical thinking about vertical integration and global supplier structures has already begun. In contrast to production, market development remains critical, es- pecially at the European level - albeit with a positive trend. Although new registrations in the first half of 2021 rose by 27 percent across Europe, this is still around a quarter less than in the pre-crisis year 2019. In the important foreign markets of Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and France, new car registrations rose by between 30 and 50 percent on average. The markets in Russia, Brazil and India devel- oped extremely dynamically, where new registrations almost dou- bled, especially in the second quarter. In Germany, 1,390,889 new vehicles were registered in the first half of the year, an increase of almost 15 percent compared to the same period last year. The increase in new registrations was particularly marked for electric vehicles with a plus of 311.6 percent and for plug- in hybrid vehicles with a plus of 191.3 percent. The EU Commission‘s decision in its „Fit for 55“ climate package came as a bombshell in this generally positive environment. Accord- ing to this decision, new vehicles may no longer emit greenhouse gases from 2035. This would be the de facto end of the classic com- bustion engine and a clear commitment to battery-electric propul- sion as the only alternative, with as yet unforeseeable consequences, especially for the supplier industry and its employees. The use of hydrogen as a climate-friendly drive alternative – be it with fuel cells or direct combustion – and of synthetic fuels must remain the focus of industry and politics, which will strengthen the competitiveness of our companies in the long term. It remains to be seen which path the politicians will finally take after the deliberations in the individual EU states and the EU Parliament – anything but the direction towards more openness to technology would be a mistake. We would like to thank all authors, interview partners and our adver- tising customers for their excellent and trustful cooperation. You are cordially invited to join us again in the next issue of our magazine, which will be published in spring 2021. We hope all readers enjoy reading our magazine. Please also use the numerous networking and linking options. Your editorial team OEM&Supplier by VEK Publisher www.oemundlieferant.de Dr. Rudolf Müller Elisabeth Klock