If you were sleeping under a rock, Politico has it for you:

Germany’s economy is driving off a cliff. The car industry is behind the wheel.
The incoming chancellor will inherit a host of problems buffeting carmaking, including high energy and labor costs along with a looming trade war.

German automakers have also bet big on the electrification of cars, investing billions in developing new models and retooling factories. But a decision in late 2023 by Scholz’s coalition to end generous EV subsidies kicked the legs out from under electric car sales in Germany.

The shocks buffeting Germany’s largest industry and biggest employer are drawing in politicians.

Together with other conservatives, Merz wants the European Union to scrap its planned phaseout of combustion engine cars by 2035. Both the AfD and the BSW are pushing for the same.

That creates yet another potential post-election headache if Merz tries to build a grand coalition with the SPD or link up with the Greens, both of which back the 2035 measure.

But carmakers aren’t all sold on the idea of messing with the EU targets, as that could throw their long-term investment plans geared toward going electric into disarray.

I asked Wahl.chat, a customized* AI chatbot that answers after having digged into a knowledge base of political declarations:

Will people trust Merz? Because if they don’t, they’ll go for AfD, which also promised to restore the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car’s supremacy. Among other supremacies.

Will Merz do as promised? What would the EU then say, as it was its “Green Deal” ukase in the first place? The stupid carmakers have already invested too much in the EV chimera.

And I’m told that Ursula von der Leyen is a bit dictatorial.

Run, Forrest, Run! And do it faster than the Red Army that will come anyway! Trump is now friends with Putin, but Europe is stuck in a “Green Deal”…

_____
*How it works:

wahl.chat ist ein interaktives KI-Tool, das dir hilft, dich über die Positionen und Pläne der Parteien zur Bundestagswahl 2025 zu informieren. Du kannst dem KI-Assistenten Fragen zu verschiedenen politischen Themen stellen, und er liefert dir neutrale Antworten basierend auf den Wahlprogrammen der Parteien.

Der Prozess ist einfach:

  • Du stellst eine Frage.
  • wahl.chat durchsucht relevante Dokumente wie Wahlprogramme, um die passenden Informationen zu finden.
  • Die relevanten Informationen werden dann genutzt, um eine verständliche und neutrale Antwort zu generieren.
  • Du kannst dir nun die Position der Partei einordnen lassen indem du auf den Knopf unter der Antwort klickst. Oder die Antwort auf Basis des Abstimmungsverhaltens der Partei analysieren lassen.