Curse of the past — Learning from VW’s failed emission reduction
by Benjamin Snow
In last week’s newsletter, we focused on German leadership in health tech, with smart policy spurring smart innovation. This week we see the flip side — VW failing to meet European CO2 emission reduction targets.
This is not a problem of the car industry in general — it’s VW’s problem. Peugeot, Citroën, Tesla, and BMW Group are all well on target to reduce their CO2 emissions. And consumers are demanding it, too. The share of electric cars on the road in Europe skyrocketed from 3% to 10% this year. The question is why are VW and Jaguar Land Rover falling behind?
To answer this, we need to look at what didn’t happen over the past years:
- 48 months ago — what investments weren’t made towards energy-efficient technologies?
- 36 months ago — what senior management processes weren’t put in place?
- 24 months ago — what innovation project stalled?
The problems of today aren’t solved by the decisions we make now, but by the processes and budgets allocated months ago, especially in large and highly regulated industries.
Which brings us to this week’s From the Web where I found some nice opposites for you.
First up: Exxon and Airbus. Exxon is ramping up carbon emissions, investing in old-world technologies, while Airbus announces planes that won’t even need fossil fuels.
On an even larger scale, China plans to peak carbon emissions in the next decade and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, while the US is still debating on whether it should cut carbon emissions at all.
My last article of the week would be helpful for the American debate: The World Economic Forum provides some practical advice this week on how we can all think about decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth.
Coming back to VW, the question remains:
What should VW do today to solve the challenges of the future?
This article was first published in the weekly FightBack Newsletter. Subscribe here for regular inspiration on impactful corporate innovation.
