German Cars
While looking at the “Atlas of Economic Complexity” the “Vehicles” sector stood out to me, more specifically “Cars”. I chose to do this because recently, German cars have had a bit of a ‘trend’ on social media, like the previous exposure of the “JDM”, or Japanese Domestic Market (cars from Japan with specific features catered to Japanese citizens. Car brands such as Audi, Porsche, and BMW are being held to a very high standard and are even being compared to prestigious performance and luxury brands, such as Lamborghini and Ferrari. Looking at the info graphic in the Atlas website, we can see how significant cars are to the German economy. They boast a $137 BILLION Gross Export and have a 6.77% share of the economy! According to “The Economist”, in 2023, cars made up 16% of all German exports of goods[1]. This goes to show how integral cars are to maintaining a healthy economy (even though Germany is supposedly headed towards a 2-year recession[2] [according to The Guardian]).
Cars first began to appear in the German economy in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Specifically, by 1900, the company now known as Mercedes became the world’s largest automotive manufacturer[3], according to the BBC. Since then, they remained prominent in the German economy. One issue with cars in general however, is how they rely on oil and gas to remain so heavily demanded. This is because they are complementary goods! In the mid to late 1960s through the 1970s, there was an oil crisis that disrupted all automotive manufactures, with German ones being no exception. This could pose a serious issue to the automotive companies, however, according to Florian Triebel in his essay titled “The German Automotive industry since 1945: An open Field of Research”, with the oil crisis, different German manufacturers responded differently to the oil crisis. Volkswagen had a large decline in sales and was struggling, as one may expect. On the other hand, BMW managed to leverage the state of the world’s discombobulation to, and actually extended its reach into the international market[4]. This goes to show how resilient automotive brands can be in Germany, and how they play a significant role in keeping the German economy healthy.
_________________________________________________________________
[1] Wolfsburg. (n.d.). What if Germany stopped making cars?. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/business/2023/07/31/what-if-germany-stopped-making-cars
[2] Guardian News and Media. (2024, January 15). Germany on track for two-year recession as economy shrinks in 2023. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/15/germany-two-year-recession-2023-gdp#:~:text=Germany%20on%20track%20for%20two%2Dyear%20recession%20as%20economy%20shrinks%20in%202023,’Multiple%20crises’%20contributed&text=Germany%20is%20on%20track%20for,costs%20and%20weaker%20industrial%20demand
[3] Staples, S. (2022, February 25). How Germany became the country of Cars. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190821-how-germany-became-the-country-of-cars
[4] Triebel, F. (2017). The German Automotive industry since 1945: An Open Field of Research. Mobility in History, 8, 141+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A536398797/AONE?u=mlin_m_babson&sid=googleScholar&xid=6d9cdf83
