Tech meeting DLD: BMW boss: New industrial era begins

"BMW CEO Oliver Zipse explains the upheaval in his industry. And the former head of the security conference, Ischinger, warns of “even more bad news”.

The global economy is not undergoing a temporary adjustment, but at the beginning of a new era.

"We are entering a completely new industrial era," said BMW CEO Oliver Zipse at the DLD digital conference in Munich. His own industry, the automotive industry, is being turned inside out by three trends at the same time: it is being digitized, electrified and circular. "Whereby circular does not mean recycling, but reusability." Zipse confirmed that the battery-electric drive will also be a central pillar of the group he manages, but not the only one. "You can try to stand on one leg and test how long it works."

He promised that so-called "green" hydrogen, i.e. hydrogen produced with renewable energy sources, would probably be an important means of propulsion for many passenger cars in the coming decades. 

At the same time, in an unspoken dig at the American electric car manufacturer Tesla, he once again referred to the DEE prototype, which he recently presented at the CES electronics trade fair in Las Vegas. Leadership in the automotive industry will not be defined by who builds the largest screen in the vehicle or writes the most program code, but who offers the best emotional experience for drivers.

Ischinger: The international community no longer exists

At the same time, Zipse also raised the issue of how the environment for companies is changing not only due to technological developments, but also political upheavals. Wolfgang Ischinger, the former long-time chairman of the Munich Security Conference, warned urgently of an even more fragmented world order.

The world is becoming "more conflict-ridden, more unstable, more insecure", there is "not much left of the rule-based system", he agrees with political scientist Richard Haass that the "international community" no longer exists - and warned with a view to the near future: " Don't expect good news.” He also agrees with the head of the technology company Palantir, Alexander Karp, that algorithms are as decisive for victory or defeat in a war as nuclear weapons.

Jeffrey Rosen, deputy chairman of the board of directors of the investment house Lazard, emphasized that at no point in the past 50 years has geopolitics played such a central role as it does today. Companies need to rethink how and where they invest their capital - and by that he doesn't just mean investments in physical assets, but also the hiring and development of employees.

He worries that Europe could fall behind the United States and China.

In contrast, Roberto Viola, head of the European Commission's division for internet technology, did not see Europe in a necessarily deteriorating position. With a view to the development of the Internet and new regulatory projects all over the world, he perceives that other countries are more oriented towards Brussels when dealing with the relevant technologies. In terms of added value, Europe is still the largest digital market in the world."