“Build an e-car that’s at least half as sexy as a Tesla,”economy minister Altmaier tells German carmakers

Germany’s economy and energy minister Peter Altmaier has urged the country’s mighty carmakers to finally “build an e-car that’s at least half as sexy as a Tesla,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. At a high-level debate with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, Altmaier said that “German cars always used to be sexy” and that he finds himself asking if this would continue to be the case in light of the shift to e-cars. “You could definitely come up with a few fresh ideas as far as the attractiveness of your e-cars goes,” Altmaier said.  He added that German carmakers were still “absolutely great in developing, building, and selling high-class vehicles,” and could catch up with competitors from the US or Asia.

Find the article in German here.

See the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers for more information.