Today started quietly. Most of the students went to the Schaezlerpalais, which is a small palace/museum tucked into the city. The main room was stunning, and I wandered around it for a few minutes enjoying the architecture and design elements.
The reporter of the day was William Wilkes from Bloomberg, and he covers Mercedes and Volkswagen Group primarily, going directly to headquarters and factories to get his information rather than relying on press releases. His read on the industry right now was blunt. It is a very challenging time, squeezed between slowing EV demand, the rise of Chinese competitors like BYD, Chery, and SAIC, and a web of geopolitical pressure.
European automakers poured enormous investment into EV infrastructure expecting demand to follow their projections, and it hasn’t. Porsche even canceled an ICE model assuming EVs would dominate and had to reverse course. Audi is in real trouble, now turning to Chinese technology just to stay competitive. BMW saw it coming more clearly. Suppliers, especially smaller family-owned ones, are caught in the middle. They are not big enough to absorb slow demand, but too embedded to walk away. The one thing he said reframed the picture of the industry in Europe. The EU cannot do much if companies like BYD simply come to Europe and sell cars directly, so only time will tell what will happen.
After the talk, our group sat down and started dividing up research topics and drafting questions for our visit to MAN Truck and Bus. After that was complete, a few of the German students invited us to get matcha at a place called Fingerschmaus. The matcha was milkier, softer, less of that grassy taste I associate with at home. I also tried Börek, a savory pastry. It has become my favorite savory pastry I’ve eaten here so far.
There was something relaxing about the day. Sitting with students from here and students from home, talking about nothing in particular, sharing food. It was very nice. I look forward to the coming days. I feel like this trip has flown by and I am sad to be at the halfway point, but I will make the most of the rest!
