Report: Apfalter (MAGNA) zur Krise der Autobranche (23.6.2020)

We actually shut down more or less all of our plants worldwide on March 15th. But we had two months of practice from China, where plants were shut down in mid-January due to coronavirus. And now since mid-April or early to mid-May, the plants have been running more or less at almost full capacity again.

Here too, we have a minus of 40 percent this year. The volume decline is projected at 20 to 25 percent, and next year minus 15 percent. It all depends on whether people worldwide buy cars in the coming months or not, regardless of what type of powertrain is behind it. If the dealerships keep their showrooms full and no new cars are bought, then there will also be layoffs in Austria at Magna.

The word 'guarantee' and 'security' — I want to use that very cautiously. We live from producing when there is demand. When there is less demand, we produce less. But of course we try to deliver great quality with our employees, which is absolutely the case, and that way the jobs are largely preserved. As you correctly said, this is a global business. What happens in Austria is related to that because the automotive industry is a global business with around 90 million vehicles per year, and the impact is on a global level, not just in Austria or Europe.

It does help Austria too, but it needs to come at the European level. And it would help us balance out this trough that we're now facing.

We wish for it. If it doesn't come, we'll have to live with the consequences, which include layoffs.

Short-time work will be extended if, based on incoming orders, we see that people are buying cars again. That's why we extend short-time work. As you correctly said, everyone is now back from short-time work. Our employees are doing a great job. They're happy to be back at their desks, in the body shops, and of course on the assembly line.

It partially solves the problem. As I said, if electric vehicles or hybrid models already on the market are bought, but they simply can't be purchased in sufficient quantities to fill this gap.

I would like to take a closer look at the content. What's being demanded here is very general. It certainly makes sense. I compare it to the acid rain discussions we had in the 1980s, where water treatment plants were built and filters were installed in chimneys. This discussion about future mobility is absolutely necessary to bring about a change in thinking. For the automotive industry, regardless of which powertrain we install in vehicles, society has to accept and buy them.

I'll read it carefully and then decide.

Therefore, the question is: when I find on your homepage the sentence 'We are ready for the mobility of the future,' and you're telling us just now that it can't work without combustion engines — how should that work going forward? The automobile is now exactly 134 years old, tracing back to 1886 with Carl Benz. In the meantime, there have been very many changes in mobility — in powertrains, in traffic concepts, public transport versus local transport, air travel. All these forms will continue to exist. And I believe it will be a mix in the future of how society deals with the topic: combustion engines for long distances, for urban transport, the second car — or rather the hybrid, and the electric vehicle, and of course a seamless connection with public transport. That will be the real state of affairs, and politics must promote it — also making bold decisions, as the discussion about the first pedestrian zone in other cities is already commonplace.

I have selected my plants across Europe — we have 130 plants. It makes little difference whether a plant is in Romania, Austria, or Slovenia. But that has to do with CO2 taxation or the emissions of the vehicle, not the emissions of production. Those are two different things.

No guarantee. But I trust our Graz employees, who have extremely good know-how, great quality performance, and a sense of entrepreneurship that gives us a leading position with our customers, making them trust us and give us orders in the future. And that means jobs again in Graz, in Austria.

I always like to look at the history of this company, which is over 100 years old. It once had peak times with 14,000 employees but also dropped to just two and a half thousand. In this context, that will also move in the future. But getting shut down — certainly not.

I am absolutely certain. 2040 is more or less just around the corner — we're now in 2020. A vehicle development cycle takes seven years, so that's more or less three development cycles. And as I said, combustion engines for long distances are absolutely necessary and still have potential for emission reduction. And I always look at the total energy balance — the creation of the battery, the recycling of the battery, the emissions from production, and even when we walk or ride a bicycle, we emit CO2.

Electric cars still have potential — earlier on with battery range, charging station density, and charging time. But I still believe it will be a mix with judgment: combustion engines, public transport, electric cars, hybrids, and in this time frame, hydrogen too. Then I say thank you for the conversation.