German auto experts urge cooperation with China to tackle industry challenges

STUTTGART, Germany, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Collaboration with Chinese peers in the auto industry is imperative to overcome stumbling blocks facing the German auto industry, chorused German auto experts present at a major auto congress.

The transformation of the auto industry in Germany aimed at achieving climate neutrality is a daunting task and international cooperation is a must to realize the goals, some leading German experts have voiced at the ongoing congress "New Manufacturing World" held in the town of Boeblingen near Stuttgart from June 11 to 12.

Lydia Aldejohann, vice president and head of CoE Intelligent Industry Business Unit Germany at IT services and consulting company Capgemini is one of the 400-strong guests attending the congress. Speaking to Xinhua in an interview on the sidelines of the congress, Aldejohann said she was impressed by the Chinese approach of fast-paced innovation by integrating value chains.

Aldejohann singled out China as an example for others to learn from and stressed that international collaboration is needed to drive forward the transformation of auto industries.

Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, a German researcher of the auto industry and co-organizer of the congress, agreed with Aldojohann by saying that international cooperation is "strongly needed," citing China as the biggest auto market in the world and a leader in innovative technologies.

China boasts know-how and scale effects of batteries, which, according to Dudenhoeffer, are prerequisites for the electric transformation of the auto industry.

China is also leading in autonomous driving and entertainment applications in vehicles, added Dudenhoeffer.

"I think there's a great future if we manage to come together and work together."

In spite of the collective clamor for more international cooperation, protectionism is posing a serious threat that may lead to a setback.

Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz, warned in a keynote speech delivered on Tuesday that protectionism could pose a risk to European economic prosperity which was based on open market over the past decades.

"We should recall how Europe has guaranteed economic prosperity over the past decades, not by closing markets but by opening them," he said.