The future of automotive value creation in Germany
The automotive industry is of outstanding importance for the German economy. In 2023, it achieved a turnover
turnover of 564 billion euros in domestic production alone. 780,000 people are directly employed in the automotive industry in Germany. In 2022, the industry invested 28.7 billion euros in internal research and development work – this corresponds to around 35% of the internal R&D expenditure of the entire German economy. Supplier companies are an essential part of the automotive industry and are primarily characterised by SMEs: Over 90% of companies in the automotive industry have fewer than 1,000 employees, and over 70% have fewer than 250.
The transformation of the automotive industry in Germany is in full swing. New registrations of battery-electric vehicles are increasing worldwide and production facilities are being remodelled. The digitalisation of production and vehicles is being driven forward. New suppliers are entering the market. At the same time, global competition between locations is intensifying, partly due to massive government investment and subsidy programmes, especially in the USA and China. There is a distribution battle for the future of the automotive industry and its value creation, as it is a leading industry with high innovation and value creation potential and has significant spillover effects on other industries involved. There is currently an intense debate about what is needed to ensure the international competitiveness of the automotive industry.
