Chancellor's Visit to Ford: Scholz Points to Brussels Regarding Electric Vehicle Subsidies

In the struggling business with electric cars from Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is relying on impulses from the EU. We need functional pan-European sales promotion, Scholz said during a visit to the car manufacturer Ford in Cologne. That would be the best way - "because it would then also be accompanied, for example, by an expansion of the charging infrastructure across Europe." He mentioned the second-best way as Europe's permission to stimulate national electric car production. He did not provide more specifics. At the end of 2023, a federal electric car purchase subsidy - the "environmental bonus" - expired, after which the demand for electric vehicles dropped.

Around 8,000 Employees at Works Meeting

According to management plans, Ford is facing massive job cuts, with about one in four of the current 12,000 jobs in Cologne expected to be eliminated within three years. The company produces two electric car models in the cathedral city, which were newly launched on the market this year. Sales are sluggish. 

Approximately 8,000 employees attended a works meeting at the plant grounds, many of whom are worried about their job future. The atmosphere was heated. "Olaf, without an election you'd ignore us," some employees shouted, referring to the upcoming Bundestag election, in which the SPD is also vying for the votes of industrial workers. "No more talking" and "Strike ready" were written on posters. The frustration of the workforce was directed against management, but also against politics. 

The chairman of Ford Germany's works council, Benjamin Gruschka, called for the introduction of an electric car purchase subsidy to boost the faltering demand. "We have to do something, we have to seize the transformation, and we need an important strong framework from politics," Gruschka said. The managing director of Ford-Werke GmbH, Marcus Wassenberg, who has been in office since the summer, stated that the necessary effort would only succeed if everyone contributes - politics, businesses, and social partners, i.e., the unions.

 

Billion-Euro Electric Investment

Ford had long relied on vehicles with combustion engines and only relatively late invested in electromobility - but then with financial determination; the Cologne plant was converted for just under two billion euros and set on an electric course. The timing for the sales launch this year was poor, as the market was in a weak phase at that point. Ford is not alone; other traditional car manufacturers are also having trouble selling their electric vehicles. 

Only about 70 kilometers away, another traditional industrial company, Thyssenkrupp Steel, also wants to cut thousands of jobs. Despite these distressing messages, Scholz said: "Germany is an industrial location and will remain so - we will do everything we can to achieve this because we are technologically at the forefront, because we manufacture globally competitive products and goods." Now we must ensure "that the framework conditions are also right and that it works," said the Social Democrat.

SPD Parliamentary Group Leader also for EU Support Path

The Cologne member of the Bundestag and SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich was also present at the works meeting. When asked why Scholz was so vague on the topic of purchase premiums, Mützenich, referring to the environmental bonus that expired at the end of 2023, said: "I think he is afraid that if we return to the old model, too many other car companies will grab this premium." Mützenich also advocated for a European support path. There are currently no majorities in the Bundestag for purely national electric car support.