ifo Institute: Electric Cars Threaten 55,000 Jobs at Suppliers in Bavaria
Around 55,000 jobs at Bavarian automotive suppliers are at risk thanks to electric cars, finds an ifo Institute study commissioned by the Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BIHK). This is in addition to thousands of jobs at the manufacturers themselves.
“Over the next five to ten years, automakers will have to increasingly convert their production to electric vehicles so they can meet government stipulations on things like emissions in the leading global markets of the EU and China,” says study author Oliver Falck, Director of the ifo Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies. “We recommend supporting materials and battery research. We reject subsidies for battery production because they would secure very few jobs and add little value.” The way to help the workforce cope with structural change is by offering them training so that they can master the new requirements.
“Around the world, the cards in automotive value creation are being reshuffled. The only way Bavaria’s automotive industry can defend its leading position is if companies, research institutes, and politicians pull together,” says BIHK Managing Director Manfred Gößl.
Besides electromobility, another factor changing the automotive value chain is autonomous, connected driving. Considerable market potential is emerging, for example for systems combining artificial intelligence, services, and hardware such as sensors. However, according to the ifo Institute, there is a danger that US companies from other industries will come to dominate the market. US chip manufacturers have already built up a key position in sensors and processors, and they have become strong competitors in the field of driver assistance systems.
ifo warns that there is an urgent need for an innovation-friendly regulatory framework to ensure that Bavarian companies continue to add value in autonomous driving. This framework should include a legal basis for pilot projects in cities or whole regions. The study’s experts suggest that the most pressing issue is to clarify who owns the data that these vehicles generate while in operation. If this question remains unresolved, data sovereignty might be claimed by cloud database operators, leaving German manufacturers dependent on US corporations such as Google, Amazon, or Microsoft.
ifo study, which was developed in cooperation with Dr. Johannes Koenen of ARC Econ GmbH, (German only): Details
