Cars lose their glamour in car-loving Germany

By Annett Klimpel Sep 1, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Berlin - For decades, the most important status symbol in Germany had four wheels and plenty of horsepower. But now the glamour of the car is fading.

Experts say it is losing prestige and gaining rivals. Some feel that carmakers are to blame.

'In Germany, people have a deeper relationship with their cars than anywhere else in the world,' says Peter Kruse, founder and chief executive officer of Nexpractice consultancy in Bremen, northern Germany.

Yet now, for many people, 'cars seem to be becoming as replaceable as fridges,' says Alfred Kuss, a professor of marketing at Berlin's Free University. 'People in most circles are no longer impressed by a Porsche.'

Young people in particular are opting for status-neutral, solid, small cars - or do without their own vehicle entirely, sales figures show.

'The middle class is the new upper class,' Kruse says. 'Status no longer counts when purchasing a car.' Small cars increasingly have equipment similar to luxury cars - and for many potential buyers, that is enough.

Andreas Pogoda of the Hamburg-based Brandmeyer Markenberatung, a company specializing in brand consultancy, believes some people will always be obsessed with cars. 'We live in the most car-crazy country,' he says. Yet despite that, there have been new developments over the past 10 to 15 years.

'The new credo goes: 'There is something to be gained from waiving'. There is now the option of deliberately not joining the crowd, of not buying a car,' Pogoda says.

The expert believes this is an ongoing development. 'The car industry, and the car as a mode of transport, must watch out so that the number of people rejecting the car does not increase.'

Many youths no longer think highly of driving their own car and they don't look forward to the launch of the latest models on the market. Card games with pictures of cars are no longer the ultimate for boys, Kruse says.

A fashionable bathroom is now hotter than a new car, surveys show.

However, it is still emotions that make the money flow. 'You have to be in love to buy something on credit,' Kruse says.

'When I have an emotional investment in something, I don't count the pennies,' says Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer from the Centre for Automotive Research at Duisburg-Essen University in Germany's Ruhr Valley.

While many people adopt the same attitude towards holidays, clothes and health foods, cars are less and less a part of this trend.

Some companies run advertising campaigns to remind people of bygone years and stir up nostalgia according to the motto: 'Wasn't that nice and it still is THE car to have,' Kruse said. 'But that is no longer enough,' he added.

The car outside the front door is being reduced to a functional object like the toaster or washing machine. 'There are more emotional things on the market today,' Dudenhoeffer says. 'The rival is no longer just another carmaker, but also the tour operator and the golf course.'

Experts agree that carmakers themselves are partly to blame. 'Nowadays, when people think of innovations, they often think of ecological ones,' Kruse says. He feels that carmakers have not taken enough interest in their customers' wishes, and produced few novelties in terms of sustainability.

Climate protection is a big issue, according to Dudenhoeffer. 'Continuous emphasis on horsepower is risky for carmakers.'

Pogoda agrees. Too little has been done in this sector - 'embarrassingly' little for a nation of inventors - he says.

A buffer spring made of plastic instead of metal and useful equipment - all that has barely set in or at best too late.

The opportunity to stir up emotion with revolutionary ideas has been missed and there is a growing danger that insisting on things past will lead to 'social ostracizing', Dudenhoeffer says. 'The engineers have grown up with combustion engines. They are blind to alternatives.'

But even more factors are dampening the popularity of the car, such as high fuel prices, improved travel alternatives such as trains and low-cost airlines, and traffic jams on motorways.

Advertising campaigns alone could not counter this development. 'The effect of marketing campaigns is overestimated,' Kuss says.

To overcome the crisis, Pogoda advises carmakers to 'build sustainable engines with reduced emission levels, influence road construction on a political level and make innovative cars as indispensable for young people as a smartphone.'

In any case, there will always be new companies and new ideas. Car sharing providers offering their services the world over stand the best chances of success, Kruse believes.

So far, however, carmakers have only timidly approached this sector, Pogoda says.

By contrast, there is a widespread agreement that the electric bicycle has great potential.

'Motor scooters are not that well established here, but electric bikes are selling,' Pogoda says. 'When you see a banker going to the stock exchange on an electric bike, that gives the 'no car' lobby even more ammunition.'