‘Transformation dialogue for the automotive industry’ has started

Today, Dr Ulrich Nußbaum, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, launched the ‘transformation dialogue for the automotive industry’. The inaugural meeting was attended by representatives of the Länder, the automotive industry, the unions, and other relevant institutions.

State Secretary Dr Nussbaum said: “If we are to develop the structural change in the automotive industry in a forward-looking way, all stakeholders must work closely together. In creating the ‘transformation dialogue for the automotive industry’, which was launched today, we have established the right platform for this dialogue. We want to bring innovations and forward-looking technologies to the regions, where they will generate fresh prospects and jobs. We will therefore work with the Länder and regional stakeholders as we review our existing instruments and discuss new ways forward.”

Discussions at the inaugural meeting centred on the impact of structural change on suppliers and regions, and the challenges arising from this. For Germany to remain a global leader in the automotive industry, a coordinated approach is needed – an approach that must be focused on the medium-term future and seek to improve the business environment for the German industrial and automotive industries, strengthen the expertise that is already available, and harness opportunites for building new value chains.

The discussion is to be continued in four regional dialogue formats and to focus on four areas:

• “Strategies of the Länder and of business”;
• “Innovation networks, continuous training alliances, expertise hubs”;
• “Corporate financing and tax law”; and
• “funding instruments”.
  

The initiatial results of the transformation dialogue are to be fed into the ‘Concerted Action on Mobility’ initiative, which will be chaired by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel this autumn.