The cloudy future of the German Car industry gets worse..
Discussion
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-09...
Earlier in the year I drove a Panamera into Berlin, straight into a huge anti fossil fuel demonstration.
I am fairly convinced at this stage that very big changes are coming and one of the reasons I went to Germany at the time was to have another long series of trips to the tracks and of course, autobahn.
I do understand that thing are changing, which is fair enough. I very much doubt if the 20 year olds of today will want anything to do with ICE or even car ownership in general. It has been a brilliant ride for me, and of course I will enjoy it when I can. Maybe I will end up wth some kind fo EV in the future.
Life will go on.
Earlier in the year I drove a Panamera into Berlin, straight into a huge anti fossil fuel demonstration.
I am fairly convinced at this stage that very big changes are coming and one of the reasons I went to Germany at the time was to have another long series of trips to the tracks and of course, autobahn.
I do understand that thing are changing, which is fair enough. I very much doubt if the 20 year olds of today will want anything to do with ICE or even car ownership in general. It has been a brilliant ride for me, and of course I will enjoy it when I can. Maybe I will end up wth some kind fo EV in the future.
Life will go on.
As one of those GT3 people who actually track cars I am sadly convinced that the era is ending. Not just because of the emissions issue either.
(1) The world is becoming increasingly urbanized in many places. Very prevalent in North America with small towns dying everywhere.
(2) 5G is just a blip now but will launch a huge range of high speed services only available in dense areas
(3) fewer young people are getting drivers’ licenses.
(4) more and more cities are restricting cars
(5) Taycan. - when a company like Porsche goes electric we are screwed.
(6) society pressures. I now feel a bit uneasy having multiple cars. I drove a Panamera Turbo into Berlin in the summer and ran smack into a huge anti-ICE demo.
I think the era of the private car in the next
20 years will change drastically. It was a helluva run-from the jalopies of my youth to the raw cars to the performance stuff now. For the first time in decades I do not have a planned car. Maybe one more RS but even then it would be my last.
At some stage I suppose some kind of intelligent EV for geriatrics might show up and I could sit in the back and read the paper - but there will be no papers any more. Stop off for a ham sandwich and find that the Ham has been replaced with tofu.
Brave new world.
(1) The world is becoming increasingly urbanized in many places. Very prevalent in North America with small towns dying everywhere.
(2) 5G is just a blip now but will launch a huge range of high speed services only available in dense areas
(3) fewer young people are getting drivers’ licenses.
(4) more and more cities are restricting cars
(5) Taycan. - when a company like Porsche goes electric we are screwed.
(6) society pressures. I now feel a bit uneasy having multiple cars. I drove a Panamera Turbo into Berlin in the summer and ran smack into a huge anti-ICE demo.
I think the era of the private car in the next
20 years will change drastically. It was a helluva run-from the jalopies of my youth to the raw cars to the performance stuff now. For the first time in decades I do not have a planned car. Maybe one more RS but even then it would be my last.
At some stage I suppose some kind of intelligent EV for geriatrics might show up and I could sit in the back and read the paper - but there will be no papers any more. Stop off for a ham sandwich and find that the Ham has been replaced with tofu.
Brave new world.
NorthernUproar said:
Maybe it’s just getting interesting...
Possibly so. Great change occurs much faster than. we think.1885 First car
1900 Lots of manufacturers
1908 Model T.....
so 23 years to cars for the people.
These are very short times. In 1884 almost nobody could imagine a car.
look back 23 years...1996.
Seems short.
Yet the World Wide Web was only 4 years old and the iPhone was not to be for another 11 years.
Yes- we could see major changes in 23 years.
Would be a major issue if the electric bet takes a much longer to ramp up in the crucial US market:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-13...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-13...
BMW have said they will be building ICE cars for the next 30 years. I agree that an EV is great for pottering around town but for long fast trips and remote places they will not play for me at all.
I need ubiquitous charging stations and five minute charging.
That being said , car companies will have a hard time with no EV.
There is another issue: car demand is falling everywhere and almost everyone has reduced Sales but yet has to invest heavily in this technology.
I need ubiquitous charging stations and five minute charging.
That being said , car companies will have a hard time with no EV.
There is another issue: car demand is falling everywhere and almost everyone has reduced Sales but yet has to invest heavily in this technology.
If you look at the rollout plans of just about any manufacturer there is a significant investment in EVs and we are seeing some of the major ICE power plants disappearing in addition to relentless new environmental rules, city centres with pollution regulations and so on. I would look to Kia/Hyundai becoming a major player in the area.
I say the above as someone who enjoys ICE cars and just bought an new Cayenne GTS with a V8 in it. Yet, I am aware that we are coming to the end of the line. Investors chided Ferrari for not having an EV strategy which let to a change of CEO.
Germany has a challenge, no doubt- it is not just in the pure EV aspect but in electronics and infotainment as a whole. I have never found German cars to have well designed simple to use systems. The engineering/performance are the strengths. I think there will be formidable competition. The current political contretemps will put China back a few years but they were set to enter the EV market in the West.
So Germany can certainly build performance cars. I spent a few days with a Taycan Turbo S, quite astonishing performance and has proper Porsche handling. Yet, one model does not make an industry .
I say the above as someone who enjoys ICE cars and just bought an new Cayenne GTS with a V8 in it. Yet, I am aware that we are coming to the end of the line. Investors chided Ferrari for not having an EV strategy which let to a change of CEO.
Germany has a challenge, no doubt- it is not just in the pure EV aspect but in electronics and infotainment as a whole. I have never found German cars to have well designed simple to use systems. The engineering/performance are the strengths. I think there will be formidable competition. The current political contretemps will put China back a few years but they were set to enter the EV market in the West.
So Germany can certainly build performance cars. I spent a few days with a Taycan Turbo S, quite astonishing performance and has proper Porsche handling. Yet, one model does not make an industry .
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