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Enno Kohlisch / Oliver Koppel / Malte Küper / Thomas Puls IW-Trends No. 1 14. March 2023 The Focus of Research in Germany’s Automotive Industry: An Assessment Based on the IW Patent Database

The automotive industry in Germany is currently facing several challenges. Car production had already fallen significantly before the Covid19 pandemic and in 2020 and 2021 suffered two slumps of historic proportions.

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An Assessment Based on the IW Patent Database
Enno Kohlisch / Oliver Koppel / Malte Küper / Thomas Puls IW-Trends No. 1 14. March 2023

The Focus of Research in Germany’s Automotive Industry: An Assessment Based on the IW Patent Database

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

The automotive industry in Germany is currently facing several challenges. Car production had already fallen significantly before the Covid19 pandemic and in 2020 and 2021 suffered two slumps of historic proportions.

This market deterioration has coincided with a firm government policy to end the use of combustion engines. How have the companies affected by this coming ban adjusted their research activity in response? The analysis of the IW patent database presented here allows a detailed look at the research activities of the automotive industry in Germany based on patent applications in the years 2010 to 2019. This shows that the main car producers have made a drastic shift towards electric traction in their research and since 2018 have filed more patents for electric powertrains than for their petrol or diesel counterparts. The three largest automotive suppliers have also clearly changed their strategy. In 2010, patent applications related to the conventional powertrain still accounted for half of their filings. By 2019, this figure was down to just under 29 per cent, while electric propulsion accounted for about 17.5 per cent of automotive patent applications in this segment. Among the large corporations, however, the establishment of successful electric powertrain research is taking more time than the retreat from conventional technology. Meanwhile, the smaller automotive suppliers in Germany are a cause for concern. Here, the shift to a focus on e-mobility is not only slow but also limited to relatively few companies.

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Download PDF
An Assessment Based on the IW Patent Database
Enno Kohlisch / Oliver Koppel / Malte Küper / Thomas Puls IW-Trends No. 1 14. March 2023

The Focus of Research in Germany’s Automotive Industry: An Assessment Based on the IW Patent Database

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

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