I spoke to Ford CEO Jim Farley in Detroit today about the opportunities and challenges facing the automotive industry. We agreed that sustainable and climate-friendly fuel technologies are the future of mobility. It must therefore be the shared aim of business and politics to advance this transformation with vigour and ensure it progresses in a socially acceptable way. Germany will play a key role in this as a highly innovative manufacturing location. In other fields, too, it is important for business and politics to pull together, for example with respect to the present semiconductor supply shortages. That was another topic I discussed with Jim Farley.

It also became clear just how important Ford is to Germany, and, conversely, how important the various sites in Germany are for Ford. The Ford Cologne Electrification Center is currently under construction. Cooperation between science and business is fostering innovation in Aachen. And the Saarlouis plant, at the heart of Europe, is a most efficient factory. I am therefore confident that Ford’s American-German success story will continue in the age of alternative fuel vehicles. And that this collaboration will produce innovative solutions for future mobility.