In 2011 the German automotive industry once again increased its investment in research and development. Expenditure on R&D by the industry in Germany came to nearly 22 billion euro, including external spending. This was around 11 per cent more than in the year 2010. “The automotive industry is the sector that generates innovations the fastest. It accounts for almost one third of all expenditure on research and development in Germany. The German manufacturers and suppliers are therefore still the force driving forward research and development in Europe,” stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). He added that a rise in R&D spending by the automotive industry was to be expected both for the current year and for 2013. Investments in R&D totalling just over 50 billion euro in 2011 put Germany top in a European comparison.
According to information from the Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft (the business community’s innovation agency for the German science system), in 2011 a total of around 350,000 people were employed in German research and development departments, one quarter of them (88,500) in the automotive industry. “The huge efforts put into research and development by our manufacturers and suppliers benefit the customers most of all. Our new models require less and less fuel, and furthermore they are the benchmarks for quality, safety, comfort and design. A considerable portion of the R&D spending goes on alternative drive trains: hybrids, electric vehicles, fuel cells and natural gas vehicles,” Wissmann emphasised.
A sizeable proportion of the R&D work is carried out by German suppliers, who contribute a good 70 per cent of automotive value-added. “The more highly innovative automotive suppliers we have, the greater the results in R&D,” Wissmann said. He added that these strengths in R&D also put Germany in a good starting position for the “long distance race” for the future market for electric mobility.
“The industry is working consistently on fuel-saving drive trains. The German group brands now have 500 models on offer which emit less than 130 g of CO2 per kilometre. This corresponds to a consumption of 5 litres over 100 kilometres. We are working hard to make the internal combustion engine ever more efficient. In addition, more alternative propulsion systems such as natural gas, hybrids and electric cars are appearing on the market. Intelligent driver assistance systems make driving even safer. Research is being conducted into new battery concepts and the wider application of lightweight construction materials,” Wissmann underlined.
