Germany is the ‘sick man of Europe’ — and it’s causing a shift to the right, top economist says
Germany is once again the “sick man of Europe,” according to Hans-Werner Sinn, president emeritus at the Ifo institute, and the challenges that poses, particularly in terms of the country’s energy strategy, could serve to benefit increasingly popular right-wing parties.
The “sick man of Europe” moniker has resurfaced in recent weeks as manufacturing output continues to stutter in the region’s largest economy and the country grapples with high energy prices. The label was originally used to describe the German economy in 1998 as it navigated the costly challenges of a post-reunification economy.
“It is not a short-term phenomenon,” Sinn told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy on Friday.
It “has to do with the automobile industry, which is the heart of the German industry and many things hinge on that,” he said. Cars were Germany’s main export product last year, accounting for 15.6% of the value of goods sold abroad, federal statistics office data shows.
Germany reported a foreign trade deficit for the first time in decades in May 2022, totaling 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion). The country had briefly shifted from a trade surplus to importing more than it exports.
Germany has since returned to a trade surplus, which came to 18.7 billion euros in June 2023, according to the federal statistics office, but exports remain sluggish.
Plunge in business sentiment
Sinn said investor doubts about the feasibility of Germany’s sustainability goals also play into the description of the country as the “sick man of Europe.”
One target currently in the sights of the German government is becoming carbon neutral by 2045. These plans came into sharp focus as Europe looked to detach itself from Russian gas supplies following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and prices shot up.
Some described Germany’s ambitions to move away from Russian gas as “wildly optimistic,” particularly in light of the country’s climate targets.
Rain falls over the finance district and the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany.
Thomas Lohnes | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Speaking at the Ambrosetti Forum, Sinn said a reliance on renewable technologies such as wind and solar would cause a “volatility problem,” which could pose issues for businesses.
“You need to fill [those gaps] with conventional energy so it’s very difficult to have this double structure which we will have to sustain in the future. On the one hand the green volatile energy and on the other hand the conventional energy to fill the gaps,” he said.
“This is double cost. This is high energy cost and this is not good for industry. It is a difficult course.”
Germany could lose 2% to 3% of its current industrial capacity as companies move operations to countries where gas and electricity are cheaper, such as the U.S. or Saudi Arabia, according to a research note released in August by Berenberg.
Uncertainty about energy prices has likely contributed to a “plunge” in business sentiment, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, wrote in the note. He added that “the current policy uncertainty and the dismay about half-baked government plans are not structural factors that look set to hold back the German economy for long.”
There is a backlash clearly … The population is now moving to the right.
Hans-Werner Sinn
President emeritus at the Ifo institute
But there are growing signs of public disenchantment in the shift to a more sustainable Europe, with a so-called “greenlash” emerging as people feel the cost impacts.
Sinn suggested there would be political ramifications as a result of the focus on sustainability.
“There is a backlash clearly … The population is now moving to the right,” Sinn said, referring to the popularity of the right-leaning Alternative for Germany party, which won a district council election for the first time in June.
“I am not moving to evaluate anything here, but … the policies which were, for ideological reasons, completely overdrawn … Pragmatism is a little bit missing in current policy,” he added.
Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Tesla is talking about finally bringing the next-generation Roadster to production in new job listing.
However, you shouldn’t hold your breath.
The prototype for the next-generation Tesla Roadster was unveiled in 2017 and was supposed to enter production in 2020, but it has been delayed each year since then.
It has become a running gag in the Tesla community and an example of CEO Elon Musk’s tendency to stretch the truth about timelines.
Since missing its original 2020 production timeline, Musk has given six updated production timelines for the new electric supercar, and each has been wrong.
The latest timeline hasn’t even been about producing the vehicle. It has been about the unveiling of a new version of the next-generation as the last prototype of what is supposed to be a “next-gen” car was unveiled almost a decade ago.
Musk has been talking about an unveiling and demonstration of the New Roadster by the end of the year.
This week, Tesla has posted a new job listing for a ‘Manufacturing Engineer, Roadster‘. In the job description, Tesla mentions working on battery manufacturing equipment for the Roadster:
Tesla is looking to hire a Manufacturing Engineer to contribute to the concept development and launch of battery manufacturing equipment for our cutting-edge Roadster vehicle. In this role you will take large scale manufacturing systems for new battery products and architectures from the early concept development stage through equipment launch, optimization and handover to local operations teams. Battery development is at the heart of our company, and this is an exciting opportunity to work directly on the central challenges for the all-new Roadster product architecture while still in its early development stages.
The comment does point to Tesla starting to set up manufacturing for the production of the new Roadster.
Since this does sound like early manufacturing development work, it would be optimistic to hope to see new Roadsters rolling off the production line by the end of next year. More likely to be in 2027.
In its updated annual installed production capacity chart, Tesla listed Roadster production as still being in the “design development” phase as of last week:
The location of Roadster production is also listed as “to be determined.”
The new job listing for a manufacturing engineer on the Roadster program mentions being based in Fremont, which could mean Tesla plans to launch production at its California factory.
Tesla next-gen Roadster
As unveiled in 2017, the new Roadster was supposed to get 620 miles (1,000 km) of range and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds.
It was listed for $200,000, and a “Founder Series” was also offered for $250,000.
At the time, Tesla used the Roadster as a prize for its referral program when it badly needed to generate sales. A few dozen Tesla owners referred enough new sales to win one or two free new Roadsters each.
Some have suspected that Tesla didn’t want to bring the vehicle to production because it would have to deliver over 30 of them for free and hundreds more at heavy discounts due to its original referral program.
Others believe that updates to the vehicles have led to delays.
Shortly after the unveiling of the next-gen Roadster in 2017, Musk discussed adding cold-air thrusters to the supercar to deliver unprecedented racing performance and possibly even allow it to hover over the ground.
The CEO referenced demonstrating that the “Roadster can fly” on several occasions in the last few years.
Electrek’s Take
It looks like we are talking about the Roadster possibly coming to market in 2027—maybe late 2026 at the earliest.
That’s roughly 10 years after it was unveiled.
I’ll believe it when I see it. And if it does happen, I might have one or two flying Roasters for sale.
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Just like it says on the tine: TV brand SHARP is following Sony into the automotive space with the new LDK+ concept that transforms into a mobile movie theater. It’s a type of concept we’ve seen before – but not like this!
The SHARP LDK+ promises to be a Living room, a Dining room, and a Kitchen on wheels – and more (the plus, obviously), building off the decidedly more blobular™ concept first shown back in 2024. This updated version, however, takes the LDK concept and brings it significantly closer to reality by basing it on Foxconn’s “Model A EV by Hon Hai Technology Group” chassis.
And, now that it’s a little bit closer to some kind of reality, it might be time to climb on the SHARP hype train and take a minute to genuinely enjoy the movie/gaming environment the company is promising to deliver with the LDK+ concept.
Get hyped, kids
Not to be overly crude here, but if you roll in a van with a sliding projector table, opaque windows, and fully reclining seats, you probably hit the “family planning” section of your local Walgreens on a regular basis. Similarly, as more and more young people find themselves struggling to afford their own space, offering a vehicle that delivers a little privacy. And even if that’s more Netflix than chill, I think it’s bound to find a few buyers.
Whether I’m right or wrong about that will remain to be seen for a while, however. The official press release is light on specs, offering the following description of the LDK+ concept …
The second iteration of “LDK+” retains the original concept while featuring both high maneuverability with its compact body and a spacious, relaxing interior. Developed based on the“Model A” EV by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), this compact minivan model offers an expansive cabin layout.
When parked, the vehicle can be used as a theater room or a remote workspace. A console box equipped with a table and projector is placed between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. By swiveling the driver’s seat to face backward, it creates a living room-like atmosphere where you can sit around with the rear seats. Pulling down the screen installed above the rear seats allows you to enjoy movies or conduct online meetings on a large display. Through Sharp’s AIoT platform, which connects AI and home appliances, the vehicle links with household devices such as kitchen appliances, air conditioning, and laundry systems. The AI learns residents’ lifestyles and preferences, creating personalized new ways of living. In addition, the system can connect with V2H (Vehicle to Home) solutions, enabling efficient energy management by integrating solar power generation and residential storage batteries.
SHARP
… but skipping automotive basics like battery capacity, anticipated driving range, and the usual horsepower and torque figures. Pricing and, perhaps most importantly, when the vehicle might see the light of day weren’t revealed, either.
SHARP LDK+ concept
All of which is to say: they’re probably never going to actually build something like this – and that’s too bad, because a new-age Honda Element/Nissan Cube-style boxy little EV would absolutely sell like hotcakes.
SOURCE | IMAGES: SHARP, The Japan News.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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All those people who want you to believe mining for EV batteries is as dirty as drilling for oil? They don’t want you to know about recycling – and they really don’t want you to know about a new pilot recycling program is promising a radical leap in battery recycling efficiency, with recovery reportedly rates exceeding 99% for critical metals like nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
Thanks to a new, highly detailed, and (crucially) enforceable regulatory framework of 22 national standards backed by a newly formed national technical committee, a team of Chinese-led researchers is raising the bar when it comes to battery recycling efficiency.
These new standards brings together stakeholders from raw material supply, battery production, recycling and dismantling, and chemical processing disciplines to address battery recycling needs across automotive, marine, and energy storage applications. The rules feature titles like, “Vehicle power battery recycling and dismantling specification,” and, “Vehicle power battery remaining energy detection (standard),” and provide the nation’s auto industry with clear and uniform procedures for handling retired batteries.
The results of a single, standardized approach have been revolutionary, and companies adhering to the new protocols are, according to CarNewsChina, seeing recovery rates of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and an impressive 96.5% for lithium – figures that were once considered a distant goal for the global industry.
Electrek’s Take
Despite being presented as an environmental liability, EV batteries represent a single sunk carbon cost that diminishes rapidly over time. Simply put: the more you use an EV battery, the greener it gets – and now that more than 99% of the battery materials can be recycled and reused in batteries that are as good as or better than they were the first time around, the batteries can become a predictable source of critical raw materials, generating significant economic value while drastically reducing the need for virgin mining and encouraging domestic job growth.
Too bad our own US policymakers can’t get this one right.
SOURCE | IMAGES: CarNewsChina; Enel.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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