News Digest Item
19 Jul 2017

“More than 600,000 German industry jobs hinge on combustion technology”

Institute for Economic Research (ifo) / German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA)

A ban on registering new combustion engine passenger cars from 2030 would directly or indirectly affect around 620,000 jobs in Germany – or 10 percent of the country’s industrial workforce, according to a study by Institute for Economic Research (ifo) for the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). These include positions that would still be required to build combustion engines for other vehicles, and new jobs would be created by the market for alternative drives. But small and medium-sized enterprises would struggle to cope with the transition to this new technology, the study says. In terms of environmental impact, the ban would cut CO2 emissions from passenger cars by 32 percent between 2030 and 2050, compared to a business-as-usual scenario. However, this figure assumes that the additional electricity comes from renewables. 

Find the study in German with an English overview here and the VDA press release in German here.

For background, read the CLEW dossiers The Energiewende and German carmakers and The energy transition's effect on jobs and business.

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