The German state of Baden-Württemberg wants to help the suppliers of the automotive industry to switch to parts and services for electric vehicles and has commenced an advisory campaign for this.
Suppliers to the automobile industry can challenge major manufacturers, but they face an enormous pressure on costs and are actively seeking new lines of business. This was recently illustrated by the dispute between Volkswagen and Prevent Group. The federal state of Baden-Württemberg has now launched an advisory campaign to help medium-sized suppliers to the automobile industry to diversify into parts for electric vehicles. The aim is to help the 1,000 or more suppliers in the south west of Germany to gain a foothold in the market for systems and components for electric vehicles and electric mobility.
The background can be seen in the radical technological and structural changes currently reverberating in the automobile industry, as a result of electrification and digitalisation. The volume of markets for components and assembly units like gears and exhaust after-treatment systems, which account for a significant part of the value added in conventional vehicles, is set to shrink in future. Other components and parts will come to the fore and they require specific skills: the complex thermal management required in electric vehicles, the high-voltage on-board electrical system, and new operating and driving concepts along with the pertinent interior outfitting of vehicles, also with regard to automated driving. A recent study published by the Institut für Automobilwirtschaft (IFA) and Struktur Management Partner concludes that this technological structural change will have major impacts on one-third of all suppliers to the German automobile industry.
The project LieSE – supplier in the electric mobility system – brings together the State Agency for Electric Mobility and Fuel Cell Technology Baden-Wuerttemberg, the University of Stuttgart, the Research Institute of Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Engines Stuttgart (FKFS) and the company Greening. The project consortium provides an online tool free of charge, which gives companies all the relevant information on the manufacturing of electric drive trains. This should enable suppliers to realistically assess their own capacities, and ascertain what they can do to become a supplier for electric mobility. In the course of the project, cooperation networks are to be established for small and medium-sized companies. The kick-off event ‘Using the opportunities of change – become a supplier to the electric mobility system’ is to be held on 6 October in Böblingen.
