VW CEO says German carmakers have only 50% chance of staying ahead

Diess says it's 50-50 whether German automakers "will still belong among the global elite in 10 years' time."
Edward Taylor
Reuters
October 16, 2018 08:15 CET

FRANKFURT -- Germany's carmakers only have a 50 percent chance of remaining leading players in the auto industry unless they transform to meet new regulations and adapt their supply chains, Volkswagen CEO

Herbert Diess said on Tuesday.

The need to produce batteries and electric cars, rather than combustion engines, and the emergence of new geopolitical threats, is forcing automakers to accelerate deep-seated reforms that pose an existential threat to some players, he said.

"From today's point of view the chances are perhaps 50-50 that the German auto industry will still belong among the global elite in 10 years' time," he said.

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