BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German Association of the Automotive Industry has demanded more commitment from the German government and the European Union in the negotiation of free trade agreements. "Every agreement that is not concluded strengthens the others and weakens us," said VDA President Hildegard Müller in Berlin on Tuesday. She also called on the German government to quickly strengthen Germany as a business location. "In the past year, we have not made decisive progress on many important points: not in terms of competitive energy prices, not in terms of a competitive tax system, not in terms of reducing bureaucracy," said Müller.

Politicians are also too busy managing crises and justifying their decisions and plans on the basis of the crisis principle. "The crisis must not become the most important argument to explain or even justify decisions," said Müller. This only creates the impression that the traffic light coalition is not pursuing its own strategy.

For the coming year, the VDA anticipates slight global growth of 2 percent on the car market. For the German market, the association expects a slight decline of one percent. The VDA expects major differences between new registrations and the production of purely electric cars in Germany. In terms of production, the association expects a strong increase of 25 percent in Germany

- but a drop of around 14 percent in new registrations. The reason

for the assumption is primarily the reduced demand for e-cars./nif/DP/jha