VW: Exchanges Between Car Manufacturers Are Common Worldwide

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 05:39

The industry is silent about the cartel allegations in the room. While VW points out that an exchange is common worldwide, Daimler boss Zetsche is causing irritation on the Internet.

The VW Group remains silent on the cartel allegations against German car manufacturers. However, the company announced on Wednesday evening after an extraordinary meeting of the supervisory board that an exchange between the groups on technical issues was "common worldwide".

Customers also benefit from this, “because innovative solutions are available more quickly and are cheaper than more complex individual developments”. VW referred, for example, to uniform charging sockets for electric cars. There was also no concrete statement from Daimler on the allegations.

EU is investigating cartel allegations

The EU Commission is currently examining information that VW, BMW, Daimler, Audi and Porsche are supposed to have agreed on various issues. Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche said in a statement published online: "The auto industry is currently making headlines - and not good ones." Many wondered what was true of the allegations and wanted clarification. "But we are well advised not to participate in speculation," affirmed the manager. This statement, however, caused astonishment on social media. If the Daimler boss can't stop the speculation, who can ?, it was asked.

The VW supervisory board also dealt with it on Wednesday evening. Some inspectors had previously stated that they had heard of the allegations from the media. "The information to the supervisory board has been discussed openly," said VW. "The management board will keep the supervisory board fully informed about relevant matters."

Those involved agreed on this, emphasized Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil. Like Economics Minister Olaf Lies (both SPD) and VW works council chief Bernd Osterloh, he is a member of the supervisory body. The group also stated that it would work cooperatively and trustingly with the authorities.

The public discussion of the past few days has triggered concerns and fears, said Weil. "This is especially true for employees who fear for their jobs." The allegations are about a complicated matter with a multitude of technical details. "At the end there is always a key question: where is it still a permitted and competition-neutral exchange of automotive companies, and where has the line to an unauthorized and competition-hindering agreement been exceeded?" Only the antitrust authorities could answer this. He called on the EU Commission to clarify quickly.

Because: Industry has to regain trust

A spokesman for the VW Group Works Council emphasized that the management board had dealt with the issue on the table responsibly: “After the management board had become aware of antitrust concerns, the meetings in question were comprehensively processed by internal auditing and the legal system informs the competent competition authorities at German and European level about possible concerns in individual cases."

Weil emphasized that the industry had to regain trust. “There is a new opportunity to do this in the next week, for example, when the future of diesel engines is discussed in Berlin. I assume and I also expect that Volkswagen will play a leading and constructive role in this discussion. (AG / FM / dpa)