The wrath of the USA, the dismay of Germany: after Tesla, Audi also goes to America
Biden's Wrath deals another blow to Germany: Audi is ready to open its first production center on US soil. And the CEO warns: "In the future, the Volkswagen Group will probably produce more vehicles in the United States than in the past". Facts and insights
Attract industries from abroad and force them to plant the entire production chain in the US if they want to continue to compete on equal terms with their US counterparts. Without beating around the bush, this is the ultimate goal of Joe Biden 's IRA ( Inflation Reduction Act ), a move that has made all of the United States' trading partners jump on their seats but which they have been unable to do against the highly protectionist industrial plan of the United States. tenant of the White House. Biden's wrath risks de-industrializing the Old Continent at a crucial moment such as that of the energy transition in the automotive sector, especially as Brussels has tied itself hand and foot to the ban on endothermics by 2035 . What is happening in Germany is proof of this: first Tesla forfeited , now it is Audi that is ensnared by the Wrath.
US IRA BATCHES GERMANY
The news comes like a bolt from the blue, not only because it is in fact concomitant with the about-face of Elon Musk , who also intended to seriously invest in the heart of Europe, but also because this time the brand is letting itself be tempted by the Wrath and deciding to set up one's factories far from Germany, across the ocean, in the USA, is German.
The managing director Markus Duesmann announced it without too many words to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung : the House of Ingolstadt is seriously willing to pack a bundle for what concerns the construction of the future electric car factory and to go to the United States so as to exploit the benefits guaranteed by the anti-inflation legislation.
WHAT AUDI'S NUMBER 1 SAID
“We don't have a factory in the United States yet. With the US government's Inflation Reduction Act, building a US electric car plant has obviously become a very attractive option.' Audi's number 1 did not disclose any details on the site, but let it be understood that various hypotheses are already being studied: it could be a completely new construction, also to take advantage of the incentives that the various states, especially those of the South (where the presence of unions is at a minimum) they are offering, or it could concern the make-up of a Volkswagen plant, such as the one in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
CHANGE OF GEOGRAPHY FOR THE GERMANS
Currently, the German brand is present only in South America, with the Mexican site of San José Chiapa, where they produce the Q5s and with the Brazilian Volkswagen factory in Curitiba, where the Q3s are assembled. Maintaining similar supply chains would prove disadvantageous with reference to the US market, because Biden's anger links the disbursement of credits and subsidies to the national origin of production and raw materials.
Of course, it will not be located in Europe. An economically sensible move that currently concerns Audi but will almost certainly be taken by the entire VW Group, as Duesmann himself hinted: "in the future, probably, the Volkswagen Group will produce more vehicles in the United States than in the past".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/lira-degli-usa-lo-sgomento-della-germania-dopo-tesla-anche-audi-va-in-america/ on Mon, 27 Feb 2023 10:46:05 +0000.