Regina Laska criticized statements made by economist Hans-Werner Sinn in a conversation with Ronzheimer. Sinn had blamed the EU CO₂ regulations for the decline of the German automotive industry and said that Chinese and possibly French manufacturers could build better electric cars. Laska countered that Volkswagen is Europe's market leader in electric cars. Sinn also stated that German car executives could not have acted faster and that the Audi CEO must cater to shareholders' interests. In this context, Laska pointed to the elimination of 7,500 jobs in Germany and a factory she estimated at four billion dollars, which was promised by Trump on the campaign stage. She accused Sinn of blaming the industry for the failures of the EU and portraying climate protection as ineffective. Laska criticized that critical inquiries in the conversation did not prevent Sinn from elaborating on his views in detail. She doubted that employees in Aurich and Emden would benefit from his account, asking whether they might be inclined to vote for the AfD because of it. In her estimation, Sinn's narrative would likely remain more memorable than the inquiries, while China is producing electric cars in the millions. As a counterexample, Laska cited Norway: there, 98 percent of newly registered cars are electric, and according to her, the country is doing well. She also noted that there are many German brands on Norwegian roads and that Norwegians are buying them. Laska warned that Germany could one day become the Rust Belt that Sinn had previously described. #EU #Autoindustrie #Klimaschutz (translated)
