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Two "governments" already have, French and British governments will ban sales of combustion engine cars in 2040, those are two big markets for German cars.
by dageshi 9y ago
Two "governments" already have, French and British governments will ban sales of combustion engine cars in 2040, those are two big markets for German cars.
- kuschku 9y agoGermany actually decided an ICE car ban from 2030 on already.
- krylon 9y agoI am German, I don't think that is actually government policy. The Green Party has made a resolution demanding that ban by 2030. But one party asking for a ban on ICE by 2030 is not sufficient against the German car industry. Just to be clear, I would be very happy to see the streets rid of petrol-burning engines as soon as possible. But I doubt it will actually happen by 2030, there is too much inertia in the industry that has done quite well with one-track thinking for about a hundred years. Someone here on HN recently quoted a business consultant saying, "culture eats strategy for breakfast". This would explain perfectly why it took two outsider companies - Google and Tesla - to develop the technology for autonomous cars and electric cars. I feel reminded of the story of Xerox and its PARC research facility - if Xerox had played their cards right, they could have been Microsoft AND Apple combined. But the inflexible bureaucratic hulking giant that Xerox had become was unable to adapt to the new technology. IMHO, the current car companies are facing a similar situation right now. If they do not get on top of that development now, they could quite likely end up like Xerox did with the computer market.