VW boss Herbert Diess , Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche and BMW CFO Nicolas Peter sat for 40 minutes with US President Donald Trump. And it looks as if he had treated the German carmakers more generously than they are treated at the many car peaks in the Chancellery in Berlin.
After the meeting everyone stressed how friendly and pleasant the atmosphere had been.
It’s true: it was a start. Quite unlike the I-hr-guilt-at-all-rounds last in Berlin. Diesel crisis, NOx fraud and driving bans are not an issue in the White House. VW has paid 20 billion, ticked off. The view does not go back, but to the front. Mood: „Let’s make great cars again“.
What helps the Germans: Trump is currently fighting with their own car makers. General Motors, who want to cut down more than 10,000 jobs and shut down their plants. And he wants to cancel the promotion Tesla.
That’s why: Trump is about jobs, about industrial production in his country. He made his position very clear: He wants the Germans to build more cars completely in the US and not just screw parts together, which are delivered by ship from Germany.
But he promises less regulation, more freedom, more „growing“ instead of „pushing“. The tariffs are off the table for a while, but not away. At the next meeting Trump wants results instead of announcements.
At any rate, the automobiles now know what America is waiting for. The rapport is supposed to be back soon in the Chancellery.
