How the German car industry became more sustainable and what to learn from it 

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Florian Wissuwa, PhD candidate, Research Assistant, Chair of Supply Chain and Operations Management, Berlin campus of ESCP Business School, Christian F. Durach, Full Professor, Chair of Supply Chain and Operations Management, Berlin campus of ESCP Business School Numerous […]

The German automotive industry under the Trump spell

Last week, the White House invited, or better summoned, the leaders of the German automotive industry to Washington D.C., in order to confer on the ‘problem’ of the missive imports of German cars in the US. The American President Donald Trump, in his belligerent line aggressively reshaping the American foreign trade policy with China and […]

EU-US ties to break over Iran; Democrats’ electoral win may not change it

After last Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States, the Republicans of President Donald Trump lost the House of Representatives to the Democratic Party. The vote was turned out into a referendum for the Trump administration, and the GOP lost the full control of the two chamber Congress. From now on, the White House will […]

Trump aims trade offensive solely to China, renews truce with EU

US President Donald Trump’s thundering trade salvos now seem to be concentrating exclusively against China. This week’s cannonade though didn’t remain unanswered. On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said “China will inevitably take countermeasures to resolutely protect our legitimate rights”. On Friday 7 September, the ‘America first’ ex TV celebrity aboard ‘Air […]

Trump rejects Europe’s offer for zero car tariffs; he had personally tabled that idea in July

The US-Mexico trade agreement, with or without Canada on board, targets Europe aggressively. For one thing, it will make life difficult for the German car companies which produce in Mexican assembly lines and sell in the US. Last Thursday, the European Sting reported the hidden sides of the US-Mexico trade deal in an article entitled, […]

Skeptic France about Trump-Juncker trade deal favoring German cars; EU’s unity in peril

The Trump-Juncker trade truce and pledge for ‘zero tariffs’ seems to have left everybody happy, especially Berlin, but the French said don’t uncork ‘les champagnes’, at least not yet. In detail, last Wednesday, the American President Donald Trump and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met in the White House and struck an agreement about […]

At last Germany to negotiate the costs for a really cohesive Eurozone

Finally, Germany blinked. Chancellor Angela Merkel at last decided  to clearly respond and, up to a certain degree, uphold French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas, about reforming the Eurozone, in order not only to save it from unraveling, but, if  possibe, to make it more cohesive and stronger. In an interview to last Sunday’s issue of […]

US-EU trade war: Berlin fearful of the second round

Finally, Trump did it. He declared war against his country’s closest and more loyal allies Canada, the European Union and Mexico. In the case of the EU though, things may be more complicated than the super tariffs on steel and aluminum products of 25% and 10% respectively, imposed as from 1 June by the US […]

European car industry: The Germans want it all

That the German cars are gas guzzlers is a fact beyond reasonable doubt, not because they are badly engineered, that they are not, but simply because they are usually powered by engines of many thousands of cm2 cylinders. Those powerful Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, Audis and even Volkswagens produce hundreds of PSIs, but at the same time they […]