There have been a number of high profile supporters of the green car movement around the world – from Barack Obama in the US to Kevin Rudd in Australia – and now you can add German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the list.
Speaking to the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, the Chancellor outlined her hopes that Germany’s renowned automotive industry would start producing cleaner and more innovative models to remain competitive. She wants Germany to be at the cutting edge of efforts to create green cars.
Describing it as a new competition to create the vehicle of the 21st Century, Merkel stated that the government would be willing to help by financing research that could be used to develop more innovative vehicles. No details were supplied however.
She also stated that there would be further help for the automobile industry in the form of a $67billion stimulus package which will be finalised this week and will possibly take the form of car tax relief linked to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The Germany automotive industry is crucial to the country’s economy – it is the country’s largest industry and biggest exporter. Indeed one out of seven German workers is directly or indirectly employed as part of the industry.
However, 2008 was a tough year for German car manufacturers as the sector suffered its worst year since the country unified in 1990.
