BY: INKA ZIEGENHAGEN, LOCAL GLOBAL GMBH

The automobile has a long tradition in Lower Saxony. The laying of the foundations of the Volkswagen factory in 1938 signalled the birth of Lower Saxony as the land of the automobile. Given a production total of more than 50 million Volkswagens, more automobiles have been manufactured in Lower Saxony than in any other federal state. That includes all the integral components: batteries from Varta, tyres from Conti, hoses, fan belts and seals from ContiTech, radios from Blaupunkt, chassis from ZF Lemförder, brakes from Teves and Wabco,  windscreens, seats etc. – all manufactured in Lower Saxony. Added to these are the Osnabrück-based firm Karmann GmbH, which manufactures convertibles for VW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, and MAN’s Salzgitter plant, which manufactures buses.

Currently in Lower Saxony a total of 117 companies manufacture vehicles and components. Turnover generated in the second largest federal state amounted in 2004 to approx. EUR 57bn (excl. VAT). In comparison to 1995 revenues have more than doubled by 118%. Export revenues have increased even more by 142%, which is a sign of the increasing international competitiveness of this sector. In 2004 the Lower Saxon automobile industry generated EUR 32bn in export turnover. Exports as a proportion of total turnover were 56%.

Every third job in Lower Saxony is dependent on the automobile industry
A glance at the employment figures also gives some idea of the size of the Lower Saxon automobile industry. At a figure of 120,000, the local automobile industry employs around 23% of all people employed in industry in Lower Saxony. Add the component suppliers and more than 30 % of all jobs in industry in Lower Saxony are directly dependent on vehicle manufacturing. In total twice as many jobs in Lower Saxony are related to the automobile than the national average.

In a national comparison of production, Lower Saxony, as a land of the automobile, is also a major player. The second largest federal state manufactures the most cars, up there with Bavaria. In the years 2003/2004 an average of 901,000 cars rolled from the production lines in Lower Saxony. At a figure of 100,000 units, Lower Saxony is also a leader in the manufacture of commercial vehicles, only surpassed by North Rhine-Westphalia at 120,000 units.

Services related to the automobile
The service sector in Lower Saxony is also heavily influenced by the automobile industry.  Besides financial services, which now play a fundamental role in the balance sheets of the automobile manufacturers, other services related to the core product „car“ are gaining increasing significance, given increased customer expectations. Thus VW’s “Autostadt” in Wolfsburg is now one of the most visited leisure facilities in Germany.

Many jobs, directly related to the automobile industry, have also been created in the service sector (e.g. in ICT or financial services). The most important trend in the automobile industry is however not towards more services but towards increasingly more electronics in vehicles. From a Lower Saxon point of view, the greatest opportunities lie in the field of telematics.. Lower Saxony was already able to demonstrate its strengths in this field at the ITS Congress in Hanover in June of this year.

A few years ago the „Neue Materialien Niedersachsen e.V. “ state initiative was launched. This initiative concentrates on four key areas: lightweight structures, smart structures, surfaces and renewable primary products, which also play an important role in the automobile industry. The CFRP Lightweight Structures competence network in Stade (CFK-Valley Stade) is a part of this. Currently this competence network focuses primarily on aircraft construction, but is also rising to the challenges posed by mass production in the automobile industry. In this regard, the aim is to develop process chains for the production of fibre composite structures in all areas of vehicle manufacturing.