The difference is both stark and surprising: While tech specialists have invested US$ 100 billion in the automotive markets of the future over the past five years, and financial investors US$ 74 billion, traditional car manufacturers have invested just US$ 11 billion. At least suppliers are doing better, with investments of US$ 37 billion. These are the findings of an analysis from Bain . Around three quarters of the total US$ 292 billion in investments were made in the US and China. Germany’s slice of the cake is a mere €9 billion, or 3%. Yet, according to Bain, the race is not yet over. What will prove decisive in the end will be the entire package of skills and strategic partnerships.

By 2018, the German Federal Government had realized that more needed to be done. It therefore set up the ‘National Platform for the Future of Mobility’ ( NPM ), which aims to achieve “efficient, high-quality, flexible, accessible, safe, resilient, and affordable mobility”. The initiative involves a total of six working groups, comprising numerous representatives from industry, from ZF Friedrichshafen through BASF and Daimler.