Germany’s carmakers face a tough new reality. A sector that employs some 800,000 people and dominates global sales of luxury cars has long been an object of national pride: not just a symbol of the country’s postwar industrial success, but more or less synonymous with Germany Inc.
Politicians have been swift to defend its interests, but the backlash against diesel is changing attitudes. At a national “diesel summit” in Berlin on Wednesday, carmakers pledged to upgrade 5m cars to reduce harmful emissions. That promise may not be sufficient. In the past week, the government has ordered a recall of a Porsche model found to contain emissions-cheating software. Amid popular discontent, Conservative politicians are preparing to drop their opposition to class action lawsuits of the kind that Volkswagen has faced in the US.
As serious as the debate over the industry’s proximity to government are claims that carmakers have also been too cosy with each other. As the magazine Der Spiegel reported last month, the EU Commission has launched a cartel investigation into VW, Daimler and BMW, as well as VW units Porsche and Audi, which have been meeting regularly in working groups since the 1990s to discuss technology and components ranging from brakes and clutches to diesel emissions cleaning systems.