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DW (English)
  • 2 years ago
VW, Mercedes, BMW and Porsche. BASF, Bosch and ThyssenKrupp. These are just a few of the German companies known around the world. Some have been leaders in their industry for decades, but that era may be coming to an end.
Transcript
00:00 Are German industries on the decline?
00:03 For decades, they were the gold standard.
00:06 German cars, machines, paints, varnishes, medicines, radios and televisions.
00:12 Many products with the label "Made in Germany" dominated world markets.
00:17 And today?
00:18 Germany has slipped into a recession and in 2023 was the only country among the largest industrialized nations with negative economic growth.
00:27 And almost all former flagship industries were affected.
00:31 There are many reasons for this.
00:33 The automotive industry.
00:35 German car brands initially slept through the transformation to electromobility
00:40 and are now lagging behind in battery production and hardly offer any affordable EVs.
00:46 China is now leading the way in car manufacturing.
00:50 The chemical industry, PASF, still the chemical company with the highest sales in the world,
00:56 shut down several plants at its main site in Ludwigshafen and cut thousands of jobs.
01:02 One reason?
01:03 The high energy costs in Germany, which are also causing problems for the automotive industry.
01:09 The pharmaceutical industry.
01:11 It's also suffering from the price of electricity and gas, but also from bureaucracy.
01:16 Nowhere else does the approval of new drugs take as long as in Germany.
01:21 The only exception was the coronavirus vaccine from BioNTech.
01:25 However, many companies are now turning their backs on Germany because they can produce more cheaply in Asia.
01:31 Mechanical engineering.
01:33 Machines from Germany were once the top export, with more than 80% sold abroad.
01:39 However, demand has now collapsed due to the poor global economic situation.
01:44 High energy prices and a shortage of skilled workers are also weighing on the industry.
01:49 Only the German electronics industry seems to be defying a crash.
01:54 It's benefiting from digitalization and the continued high demand for computers, cell phones and the like.
02:01 Overall, however, the outlook for the most important German sectors remains rather bleak.
02:06 There's a lot of catching up to do, particularly in terms of energy prices,
02:11 digitalization, de-bureaucratization and the transformation to a green economy.
02:17 (upbeat music)
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