German OEMs position for a complicated global market

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Much is made of the challenges faced by the German automotive industry, but there is evidence companies are prepared for the future. By Will Girling

In recent years, there has been a public conception that German automotive is struggling to adjust to an increasingly digital and electric industry. From overcapacity at car plants to job cuts at major suppliers and intensifying competition from China, the country that invented the car appears to be running out of ideas, cash, and prestige.

“I think the general opinion is currently more negative than the one held by automakers themselves,” contends Jochen Funk, Managing Partner of Automotive DACH & Strategy at Publicis Sapient. Formerly an executive at Volkswagen, he believes Germany’s leading OEMs have “digested” the changes in the global market and are now prepared to fight for their future.