An Auto Industry at Its Limits

Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 27 October 2022
by Stefan Winter (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Mallory Matsumoto. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.
New companies from the U.S. and Asia are more technologically advanced than traditional German companies. These latter have to work much harder now.

In the old industrial world, German carmakers were at the pinnacle of achievement. But that was, after all, the old world. The new one holds a bitter realization for self-confident German car people, namely that they are reaching the limits of their abilities. This can be seen with software, for example, the most sophisticated application of which is the self-driving car. First, the Germans failed to realize that it represented a lucrative potential business. Then they didn’t want to accept that competitors could take over. At the next stage, German companies failed to join forces with each other. Then Volkswagen’s solo attempt, Cariad, demonstrated how difficult it is for giant corporations with deep traditions to restructure themselves at such a fundamental level.

And the next mistake is pinning all hopes on those who are trying to capacitate these companies quickly and at great expense. The goal to control auto software and interconnectivity is a good one. But the learning curve will get steeper. Young companies in the U.S. and Asia do not have to travel this path; they are starting from where traditional German car manufacturers need to get to.


Autoindustrie an den Grenzen der Fähigkeiten

Junge Firmen aus den USA und Asien sind bei der modernen Technik weiter als die deutschen Traditionsfirmen. Die müssen sich jetzt anstrengen.
In der alten Industriewelt sind die Autohersteller so etwas wie die Krone der Schöpfung. Aber es ist eben die alte Welt. Die neue hält für die selbstbewussten Autoleute eine bittere Erkenntnis bereit: Sie stoßen an die Grenzen ihrer Fähigkeiten. Das Beispiel Software – mit dem autonomen Fahren als anspruchsvollster Anwendung – zeigt das. Zuerst fehlte schlicht die Erkenntnis, dass hier ein lukratives Geschäft wartet. Dann wollte man nicht wahrhaben, dass es sich Konkurrenten schnappen könnten. Im nächsten Schritt scheiterten die Konzerne daran, ihre Kraft zu bündeln. Dann zeigte VW mit seinem Alleingang Cariad, wie schwer es ist, traditionsreiche Riesenkonzerne so grundlegend umzubauen.
Und nun erweisen sich Hoffnungsträger, die schnell und teuer Kompetenz ins Haus bringen sollten, als Fehlgriff. Das Ziel, Software und Vernetzung des Autos unter Kontrolle zu halten, bleibt richtig. Aber die Lernkurve muss steiler werden. Junge Firmen in den USA und Asien brauchen diesen Weg nicht zu gehen. Sie fangen da an, wo die Traditionsmarken hinwollen.
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