Dear Reader,

"We are certain that hydrogen will be of major importance as a fuel in the future." This is one of the key remarks made by Jochen Schröder, President of the E-Mobility division of the Schaeffler Group, in the interview on page 22. We recorded the conversation before the start of the war in Ukraine, at a time when no one suspected the significance that this statement would have in a quite different context. In the light of the sanctions imposed on one of our major suppliers of energy in the form of gas and crude oil, our dependence has become obvious in the truest sense of the word. Everyone can get a readout of it in the form of the numbers on the price boards of the fuel filling stations. And this is despite the fact that the amount of oil arriving from Russia remains unchanged. What is difficult to understand in this situation is the fact that, even now, there is no massive and large-scale effort to produce e-fuels and hydrogen, as this is still not the case.

We strongly approve of the solidarity shown by the automotive industry with regard to the restrictions on Russia. Over the past year, German manufacturers exported just over 40,000 vehicles to both countries - Ukraine and Russia. The figures in more detail are 4100 cars to Ukraine and 35,600 to Russia. This amounts to 1.7 % of all the cars exported from Germany. Russia is ranked 18th in terms of German car exports. German manufacturers produced 170,000 cars in Russia itself in 2021, most of which were sold there. Their market share in Russia is almost 20 %. The German automotive industry, including both vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers, has around 43 production facilities in Russia and six in Ukraine. Components represent the biggest problem at the moment and will continue to do so in the near future, because alongside Tunisia, Ukraine is the main supplier of wiring harnesses to European manufacturers. Because of the complexity of the manual production process, it cannot be reorganized at short notice or other substitute solutions found.

According to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), it is not currently possible to estimate what the financial impact of the war will be on the German automotive industry. But against the background of the economic difficulties caused here by the war, we must all remember one thing: However significant these problems may be, they are nothing compared to the suffering of the people of Ukraine.

Best wishes,

figure 1

Frank Jung

Editor