Germanys Electric Car P.R. Stunt – US-FOREX.US
European carmakers are struggling to reinvent themselves in an effort to fight falls in sales; on Wednesday Berlin predicted 1 million electric cars on Germany’s roads by 2020, as Europe’s largest economy tries to create a positive impact on the ailing automotive sector. But adding electric cars to the mix won’t do the trick, say analysts.”The program is aimed at having a positive impact on investment decisions, give producers security and support the sale of electric cars,” according to a copy of the plan obtained by the Associated Press.According to press reports, specifics on the finances are still to be discussed among the country’s legislators, but the idea has already faced criticism from industry analysts. “At a first glance this sounds rather like a nice p.r. story,” said Gregor Claussen, an analyst with Commerzbank. “But more will have to follow. Without the help and the right framework from the politics, it will not work,” the analyst said. Analysts also believe the push for the market will be too small to even be noticed. “This plan envisions 1 million electric cars in 2020 on Germany’s roads, which means that from now until 2020 only 1 million electric cars will be sold in sum in Germany. Keeping in mind that this year alone about 3.7 million cars will be sold in Germany, the 1 million additional sales will have only a minor effect,” said Heiko Moehringer, an analyst with LBBW. Contrary to foreseeing a substantial increase in sales, analysts have been expressing their concerns about a looming drop in demand as scrapping schemes-which have artificially boosted demand-expire in Germany and across Europe. LBBW estimates sales in Germany will fall from 3.7 million cars to 2.8 million units sold next year.
Yet carmakers in Germany are still going ahead with their plans to produce electric cars. Volkswagen
hopes to introduce its first electric cars on the market in 2013, while Daimler AG is working with California electric car maker Tesla Motors on developing better battery and electric drive systems for vehicles destined for the consumer market.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
