“We in Germany are the world leader in automotive technology!”
BMW Chairman of the Board of Management Oliver Zipse, gave a highly acclaimed keynote speech on the topic of “The Future of the Automotive Industry” at the 27th Munich Management Colloquium.
In this context, Zipse quotes Christoph Martin Wieland’s phrase “forest that you cannot see for the trees”. He emphasizes that the German automotive industry is in a much better position than is often circulated, but that precisely these facts are hardly reflected in the published opinion.
So where does the strength of the German automotive industry lie? For Zipse, it is above all the particularly successful symbiosis of hardware and software expertise. And this is exactly what is needed not only to lead the industry through the disruptive times with success, but also to achieve the ambitious climate goals in Europe.
For Oliver Zipse, the Europeans’ ambitious long-term goal of becoming a climate-neutral continent in 30 years is exemplary.
From 2021 to 2030 alone, carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced by 37%.
“There is no way around e-mobility.”
The future of the automotive industry lies in system integration. This is why BMW, for example, has already invested a great deal in IT competence. “Today, BMW is already one of the largest software houses in Germany with 7200 employees in this field. All employees must be IT literate, that is our goal”.
The volume of data that BMW processes every day is impressive. BMW already has 14 million networked vehicles worldwide that collect data every day. These are analysed in detail at BMW. Every day, 25 million traffic signs alone are recognised and eradicated. BMW Group vehicles record approximately 95% of the German motorway network every day.
“And even today we can update our cars “over air”. Not only the Americans can do that,” says the BMW CEO.
German automakers are world leaders in the field of industrial IoT.
In AI-based image recognition in production for quality assurance, the Europeans are ahead of all other regions in the world. Europe collects more than twice as much industrial data in production compared to the other regions in the world.
Industrial partnerships with external partners are also important for production optimization, at BMW for example with Microsoft.
Global networking, process sovereignty and the right partnerships will ensure the successful survival of the domestic automotive industry. The art of cooperation will be decisive in this respect.
This article was first published at https://www.medientraining-institut.de/de/warum-die-deutsche-automobilhersteller-immer-noch-weltmarktfuehrer-sind/