• MBech@feddit.dk
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    13 hours ago

    But why? Like, I get why he’s doing it, it’s because he’s bought by the car and oil industries, and for some weird reason the VW Group really doesn’t want to make electric cars, but what’s the please-elect-me-again reason? Are they just really hoping enough people who hate electric cars are going to love them for this? 'Cause that votersegment is disappearing fast.

  • DandomRude@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    Until around 2003, Germany was the global market leader in photovoltaic systems. Today, the country plays virtually no role in this industry anymore.

    That’s what happens when you elect lobby-friendly conservatives to government for decades, who refuse to invest in the future and even actively seek to prevent innovation because it harms their powerful business friends.

    That’s what the CDU did back then, and that’s what they are doing today. The only strange thing is that people still don’t seem to understand that it is essentially the CDU whose disastrous policies have caused the German economy to fall so far behind in pretty much all key industries.

    • einkorn@feddit.org
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      15 hours ago

      All correct, but please don’t forget that the SPD also had a hand in it. Especially in case of the solar industry, Sigmar Gabriel finished what Peter Altmaier started.

      • DandomRude@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Yes, absolutely right. Unfortunately, for exactly the same reason: lobbying and the resulting policy of continuing as before until it is no longer possible to continue because the world has moved on without us.

        Unfortunately, the photovoltaic and automotive industries are only the most prominent examples of the short-sightedness of this policy.

  • WanderingThoughts@europe.pub
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    17 hours ago

    Classic fuel German cars are pretty pricy these days while Chinese cars even with tariffs can be cheaper. That’s not a good sign for the German industry.

    • FishFace@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      EU tariffs will prop it up. And maybe even rightly so - Europe probably should not become dependent on American and Chinese cars.

  • Jramskov@feddit.dk
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    16 hours ago

    Well, that’s pretty stupid 🤦‍♂️ It’ll most certainly not save the German auto industry.