Germany is doing everything to keep up the old big companies and nothing to promote innovation and startup culture.

40 years of deindustrialisation of Europe , export of technologies and manufacturing to low wages countries around the world , not only to China ,all done to increase the profits . Ofc no greed , corruption or incompetence being involved . What can go wrong ?

I worked for a German company for several years. I’m 99.99% sure that those proposals will never be carried out. The biggest obstacle in Germany is arrogance. Chinese customers used to regard German products as embodiment of good quality and advanced performance. However, over the years, the quality is not that good and innovation is gone. There is little reason for customers to pay a premium on German products. But widespread arrogance will stall any necessary steps to move forward.

Fight back? Germany's position is that of a fool who makes bad decisions, then blames others for his stupidity.

As a neighbor (Swiss), I wish the German auto industry all the best, but if they do not make a resolute turn towards electric, autonomous vehicles, they will become obsolete within a very few years! As a senior engineer having "fought" German bureaucracy to get any project done in Germany, I shall go one step beyond: the whole of the German system, of the German business culture and mentality have to reform themselves!

Times change guys. Industrialized European countries have been benefiting from impoverished and less industrialized countries. Today, many countries, not only China are rising industrially, supply chains are also changing. German companies might want to innovate and stop playing America's geopolitical games.

The German fuel for their industry was destroyed in Nord Stream pipeline.

Have they not realised that the US are not their friends. They are Deindustrialising themselves. 😂

This is the result of companies only thinking of quick profits instead of planning for the future

When you debate "rights" more than "real" issues this is what happens...

Germany: bureaucratic, traditional, old-fashioned, non-digitalized, formal structures, too focused on saving, afraid of taking chances. Greetings from Denmark, your Northern neighbours 🇩🇰

China has been Germany's largest global trading partner for 8 consecutive years, but not vice versa.

Digital guys can not understand that reality can not be build by big data alone, someone is still needed to built.

Make good cars that have good infotainment and controls, and are easy to run and maintain. Here in the United States, German cars used to have a good reputation, but Koreans are fast overtaking them and they are well behind the Japanese. I have a VW, runs quite well for now, but my next car is less and less looking like a German make.

Advice for politicians: letting important industries like photovoltaic cell manufacturing get entirely bought out by a foreign entity openly ideologically hostile to the core values of your society really isn't a good idea.

This man is wrong on multiple levels. What he suggests would not revitalize german industry, it would burn it to maximize his immediate profit margins. 1) German industry is defined by it's extremely high qualtiy mechanical engineering. Overworking your labor force and keeping in increasingly older and tired workers will damage that. By damaging that you're then playing on China's home turf: productive capacity, something that no country of europe, or even if the EU federalized into a single country, cannot directly challenge due to raw population size. Thus we must not compete on quantity, we MUST double down on quality and expand it by having the technology nobody else can sell, I'll explain this more on 2. 2) This means that Germany and europe NEED to specialize on cutting edge technology, we NEED to be 1-3 decades ahead of everyone else in key industries if we want to have a strong manufacturing base in the EU. We have a blueprint on how to accomplish this: how the US overtook the USSR. We need massive publicly funded research and development megaprojects in key industries. Those being: green energy, nuclear power, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and technologies of human augmentation/life extension. The last category is possibly the most important as it not only has the highest potential to change human civilization and solve problems we once thought unfixable (the economjics of ending most diseases, disabilities and aging would be phenomenal) but it also would create a new industry worth trillions of euros and would be a massive geopolitical asset. If you think it's not tell me, what happens if china comes alond and starts selling tech that could make people live for a few more decades or possibly a century or two with potential for more to be invented in that time? Answer: they take over. We cannot rely on the private sector to innovate on that scale because this kind of R&D is incompatible with market systems, it's too high cost too high risk and economic payoff is too slow for investors who want immediate stock growth. This is why public R&D is necessary in suchg fields. Thus we need the pedal to the metal, more focused and ambitious R&D that's organized on a pan-european scale and guided towards specific, revolutionary goals. 3) This is not a finance problem, in fact loosening finance regulations does not bring back manufacturing jobs, as we have seen in the US. It only increases the ways to manipulate stock markets. 4) Protectionism is a must for now, we need to have strong tariffs for products from outside the EU until the aforementioned industry is online and running. 5) We need a strong consumer base, the post cold war policies of austerity have ruined the purchasing power of our people, this is turn stagnates us as the top claims an ever increasing amount of the money supply into stagnant capital. We NEED higher velocity of money. I believe we need a scaling tax that makes acumulation wealth past the point where wealth cannot improve people's quality of life extremely slow or impossible, similar to the new deal redustriubutive tax system. This is turn would then incentivize the stock owners and the corproations to reinvest their money into wages, new technology, research, refinement, etc. instead of the current status quo of running a bare bones system with little to no improvement over time where minute QOL additions are marketed as "innovation" even if it required little to no R&D to do so. In addition such a tax system would allow to fund the aforementioned research initiatives european countgries NEED to invest in ASAP.

China has oil and gas pipelines from Russia. German cost of energy is 3-4 times higher now.

當德國的瓦斯管 被人炸了以後 卻屁都不敢放一個 就沒人再拿德國當回事了

I never knew you guys were competing with China.

they outsourced entire industries and they profited from that now they want to make the average person pay for that and build industry on your back; you’ll never retire so it’s a lose-lose situation for the average person

Who cares about buying BMW, when you can buy a Chinese car with better technology for half the price 😂

His biggest point here I think it's when he said the Germans are relying too much to the government regulations and trying to make competition going slower, instead of being more competitive themselves. I remember a decade ago I had an RC shop and I was choosing suppliers for parts. Chinese products were very competitive and of good quality, while the German products were of the same quality since they were being manufactured in China too. The German products were much more expensive for no apparent reason and I saw mostly Germans using them for the sole reason the Chinese products were either very expensive due to heavy import taxes or even inaccessible to their market. I believe such policies can only work if everyone is following them. The main reason people from the rest of the globe were choosing German products was for their quality and since that quality was gone it was about time for the problems to arise.

Headline makes no sense. German manufacturers are already moving to low-wage countries... US and China, to name two.

Germany was doing alright with cheap Russian gas pumping its' energy sector before Ukraine war, but after US blown up the gas pipes that now Germany need to buy expensive gas from US which will increase prices of everything. Energy is the biggest problem Germany facing now. Moving industrial complex into a country with plenty of cheap energy might help but there are many drawbacks. But Germany is also building fusion reactors, hopefully Germany will manage through.

Firwt thing first, the interviewer did a great job in digging through the issues. Fact of the matter is that EU has lost to Asian countries on work ethics, being digital first and supply chain. They've relied too much for too long on others and now when the world is becoming multi polar, they are atrugggling with adapting to it.

I suggest 3 points as an economist who currently works basically as a galley slave in Germany and a person who was recently suggested to “clean toilets”: 1) Arrogance costs money and market share, 2) Rule of law and promoting regulations do not necessitate rigidity in business decisions, 3) Ideals and reality must be separated.

Unlike Germany, China is an independent and sovereign country.

Very good interview with strong examples and a very broad birds eye view to small details. Great one ! Hats off for Mr. Haeusgen and Winter for this worthwhile exchange.

I don't think China will buy as much as before, somebody has opened the pandora's box already

Finally DW started speaking about it.... better late than never! Happy to see this as a first step for improvement :)

Maybe by starting to build cars again that last? Leave all that plastic away from under the hood. Success was quality, reliability and longevity. 😮

Exact same talking points I have been hearing in the US since the 1980's. I am surprised German companies are only now looking to the government for handouts of tax cuts and less regulation and blaming it on global competition.

Germany is a puppet, lmao

Past 4:45 Karl Haeusgen says corporate tax rates should be lowered in Germany. Germany’s current corporate tax rate is lower than in the US, a country currently leading the global economies. Huh…Why would the president of a business trade group recommend lower taxes for its members? For more profit? Or could there have been another reason(s) for the current situation?

In other words, Germany has been so busy following the US missteps and geopolical stupidities, now they're paying the price.

I think the guy is hallucinating sometimes... small family business which runs what? LiIon battery assembly line?

As a Chinese working in Germany, I'm surprised that so many holidays they have, and they are still asking for 4-day working.

I don't think the guy really realize the seriousness of the issue. German car industry is facing a disaster.

Under investment in infrastructure, over reliance (and trust) on the US, are major hindrances to Germany. Following neo-liberal policies will bring you to where the US is: inequality, homelessness, designed poverty, prison industry, militarized police force, …

That last point is interesting Tesla were given hundreds of millions of US dollars by the Obama many years ago when Tesla were just starting out, and now Tesla are a world leader. By comparison Sono Motor here in Germany got zero from the national government and 17 thousand Euros from the Bavarian state. It cost Sono Motors 300 million Euros to develop their car and they were just short of the money to go into production, they closed that project and are no longer developing a car. Where as Tesla didn't make a profit for many years and when they did make a profit they made a massive profit and support many thousand jobs in the US and elsewhere. There is a reason startup businesses do better in the US.

Great interview. The cost difference is the costs of regulation and bureaucracy, waste and poor policy in the EU vs. China; Germany knew this and allowed to happen. The EU manufacturing base is now too integrated into China, it will take 10+ years to reverse if the process starts today.

What he very rightly said, is we are in living in a comfort zone - and it is better to understand and accept the competition! It's an open market.

why anti-espionage law is a treat to Germany companies? or German really want to do some sneaking espionage things in China?

35 hours of working hrs are reasonable demand. They should focus on productivity

I am wondering what he means by reducing bureaucracy. Does he want industry to be relieved of their duty to documentation? Does he want a relaxation on regulations and laws? And what kind of laws is he talking about? Laws on environmental protection and safety? Laws on workers protection and safety? Laws on building? Or is he just talking about speeding up the process of public office work so that industry can realize their projects faster? And also, 35h work per week is NOT the regular in Germany. Its 40h. Retirement age in Germany is at 67 years old, its already very high, how much longer should people in Germany work before they can retire?

What did Germany expect? Writing has been on the wall for a decade now!

BMW VW Mercedes made in china. They aren’t the same cars…lost their status .

the interviewer was excellent

There is an other Country with 1.4 Billion people out there. Germany need to make joint venture with them like she did it with China four decades ago. This approach will buy Germany an other 30y time to figure out how coldfusions works. This technology will give Germany the cheapest energy which Germany asking for. No need for Putins Gas!

Asking others to come out of comfort zone as a criticism but when his industry was criticised he only had low quality responses. AI is not for B2B. BMW is more desirable than a Tesla. I mean digitalisation is not only about AI. And the way AI is sold by CEO to their stakeholders, those companies are going to sell faster developed products. (Not necessarily good thing but the market will get flooded and something might stick). How will mittel industries compete with that. How are you going to be more innovative?

German products are too pricey and as competitors have caught up or even exceed German products , premium is no longer sustainable

Great interview questions, insight interview.

mentality in germany seems to be stuck in the industrialization era ... not digitalization era...

Companies should stop relying in the government solving their problems. I still haven’t heard what they are doing to diversify their markets, to invest in R&D (instead of paying out dividends!!) etc. Besides still no answer on how it should work out reducing taxes and increasing government spending.

So his solution have 2 elements: 1) cut the taxes for the firms… when firms pay less taxes, who covers the rest of the money needed? Workers… so workers needs to pay more taxes instead of companies 2) workers should work more and longer… so his solution is: workers need to work harder for less… increadible…. How come they don’t understand that it’s not about working hard… it’s about working for the right things… while others invested billions on AI, Germany invested billions on regulating the use of AI. While others invested billions to colllect and use data, Germany invested billions on how to stop data collection. Innovation is the only way to stay relevant and Germany still don’t get it

It is always a question of balance - of the consumption economy and investment economy. The same concepts of balance applies to domestic versus export markets, and a loss of that balance, in my view, is what plagues Germany today. Is my view correct? Are structural imbalances causing small to medium industries in Germany to fail?

The German business-scape has a very laggard mentality. Everybody takes their time to get important things done and will rather focus on the process than the outcome. Most of the time, before that thing is done, the outcome has been severely depleted. I saw this within one week of being in Germany and was very sure that there was no way a country will maximise potential that way especially in a fast-paced world.

Excellent interview!

Dear expert, no need to increase working hours and pension age. Move the masses of people living on social welfare to the job market. This is friggin overdue. I was also quite shocked that education is not on the plan / requests..

This is not true only for Germany. Every country is investing in startup ecosystems where small, medium, and large players can effectively participate to foster innovation.m

Fascinating interview. Europe needs more leaders like him

lmao theres nothing to fight, you people still think that china is beneath yall? actually its the opposite china was the king in the past, now its rising back to its old position again.

how about stop overpricing your cars, easy.

What's the German translation for 'wishful thinking'

German economy's bigger problem, Nordstream

Emerging powers like China and India play a "long game" we in the west have inept politicians who cater for the 60 second TikTok generation. Also, greedy shareholders having willing exported technologies and IP to low wage countries for a quick buck. I fear that it will only get worse.

This is a very interesting interview

These guys are responsible for the emissions scandal. They get a huge amount of money for substantially nothing, and now they want people to work longer. No way! I prefer to buy a horse than a German car.

the answer stop being greedy if things were more affordable we buy german stuff here example a 30 year old kubota tractor cost about 7000 eur a solis from india and china cost 10000 new with more hp

Increasing the already high retirement age, plus the working hours, I can't imagine any worker wanting to move to Germany on any work visa for a long time. Again, let's blame the workforce, not the politicians and economists who were asleep for 20 years

The guy's right. 'German industry' is becoming a byword for being backwards, protectionistic and relying on lobbying instead of quality. Case in point: My car was subject to an 18K anti-sustainability tariff because German industry lobbied with the EU to protect them against much better and less greedy competitors. Even with that unfair stuff, Volkswagen had the audacity to demand 55K for their inferior ID3, while at the same time BYD got you a Atto3 for 43K, of which 18K is unnecessary protectionism. Free trade: I don't see why my hard-earned money should be going to union mob bosses and overpaid CEOs in Germany or France.

I am from Global South, if Germany is not interested then I have to think the second option for countries in Global South like China. For the moment China is far ahead of any other country I know they are interested on my invention. I will not let my invention go for nothing, high price has been paid for it.

Interesting to hear Mr. Haeusgen speak, he has many good points. Comfort zone and complacency is a big problem in a calcified country like Germany. One problem not mentioned is the arrogance of German industry. They have been in bed with an overprotective government and filled their pockets for decades. Just look at the Dieselgate scandal. Nobody in the industry or government said a word. It was found by students. Another dubious statement: German innovation. I worked for German car manufacturers for many years and I did not see any new technology in decades. They just improve it. Tesla probably has more patents then all of the German brands combined.

Excellent discussion

Short answer is NO They cant its far too late to bounce back. They had that chance 10 years ago. The germans might come back after a big economical crackdown but not befir that.

Germany will be fine all these wimps in the comment section worrying about a misinformation video.

Quite simply, the situation only needs to get bad enough and then changes will happen. We have everything we need.

that is one nervous "yes". nobody stays at the top forever..this fact is hard to swallow but true nevertheless.

Nice laundry list, i already know which 2 point are going to be implemented...

German economy was living above its posibilities

German Auto union workers get paid 8 times more than Chinese workers and work less than half the hours of Chinese

The configurations of Mercedes-Benz and BMW are really poor now, and the higher the technology content, the higher the price. Compared with the cars from mainland China, they will definitely be abandoned if this continues...

Germany can't keep up or catch up cause they are so slow to adapt to new and evolving things.... Its a sinking ship unless Germans change their ways to learn quickly and be flexible.

Confort zone. Our parents worked before becouse they could buy a house to raise their children. Nowadays people dont have incentives to work. This person its completly out of reality.

So his first advise is to work more for less. Will this save German industry?!? What a joke.

Lower taxes for Businesses? You're already taxed very high as an individual in Germany. Over 40% of your income will be taken from you in a 9 to 5 job. Think about that first before lowering the taxes for big corporations.

seriously... the 35 hour work week does not mean that workers are lazy... it means that the government tries to expand employment rate and share income equally... if workers needed to do a 70 hours week... not to mention other social and health aspects, half of people would be unemployed...sure it would serve employers interest during wage talks... but on the long run they would run out of highly skilled workers...the 35 hours work week is what germans call better quality pays off on long run...

Seems like “Whining” should be recognised as an Olympic sport to help Germany win more gold medals at the Olympics.

i think the biggest problem is that we don't have a gdp story

Germany is not losing!!! We are and always will be the master of European industry!!!

I just sold my BMW and bought a Tesla. The problem with Germany is that the quality of all of their products is in the toilet. Bought my BMW three series new, within 20,000 miles I was making major repairs. I sold it last month after owning it for six years since new, it only had 50,000 miles on it and I had pretty much replaced a significant amount of the vehicle. Is that your German engineering? German products fall apart. Back in the 80s and 90s BMWs were solid reliable cars. The way this company has fallen is reflective of other major German brands. Germans don’t care about quality anymore, so nobody wants their products. The same thing happened with American auto manufacturers in the 90s and 2000s. Then Tesla came along and shocked the industry and forced everyone else to innovate. Now the United States produces the most technologically advanced vehicles in the world. Germany needs to encourage innovation, stop propping up their legacy failing companies, and allow competition to drive the market. Also get along with your damn neighbors.

More working hours for the individual and less taxes for the corporations . Great

i like the last question😊

Not only can fight back, it will.

The thing is if you promoting yourself as premium or higher-end one, you'd better be sure your products are truly deserve it and reliable.

bureocracy reduction is impossible in german because of german angst... what-if'ism

Yeah sure, billions of cooperate profits, economic growth but asking for more working hours, get rid of retirement age (67) & social security and reduce cooperate taxes - which are one of the lowest in the world. On top of it, they demand goverment/ tax founded education for high qualified workers (but they should be cheap and not apply to other countries where they get more salary), infrastructure for cheap ressources, also require R&D paid by the tax payer but keep the profit out of it private. Of course patents, copyright, contracts, etc needs to be protected by a strong reliable law - which you not get in your favourite "cheap" countries like China. Oh, yes of course you like the tax payers to cover your risks of investment as we saw it during Covid or finacial/ Europe crisis, beside HERMES Bürgschaften and similiar goverment backed help.

Germany knows Norway, and Norway's standards when it comes to long term environment friendly is Ecologically footed, reliable as that of the Finnish, that also finishes. Congratulations.😊

Today I've visited Hannover Messe, one of the biggest technical trade fair in the world. And it was hard to believe that 60%-70% of every hall were occupied by the exhibitions from Chinese companies. I think, the Chinese companies have have displaced/replaced other manufacturing nations perhaps long time ago. Moreover, I think you are not wealthy if you have everything that is expensive. I believe, Germany is one of the poorest country in the developed world and perhaps the most of the wealth is controlled by small portion.

Remove the sanctions and save yourselves