Paradigm Shifts In Transport Sector

Speech delivered by Andreas Renschler, Member of the Board of Management, Volkswagen AG, and CEO, Volkswagen Truck & Bus, at the VDA International Press Workshop in Frankfurt.

The transport industry has never before been as exciting and undergone so much change as it is experiencing today. An entire range of developments are in the process of fundamentally changing our world and the world of our industry and how we co-exist with one another. And just as with any other major change, this leaves us in a situation where we face both difficult challenges and get huge opportunities.

What am I referring to? Three important transformation drivers which each of us encounter every day. Firstly, something that won’t come as a great surprise to you: Transport volumes are increasing. Both nationally and globally! Estimates supplied by the Ministry of Transport predict that for Germany alone high double-digit growth in the sector will continue for the next 10-12 years. And the overwhelming majority of all goods are, as we know, transported by truck. Particularly in areas near large cities and conurbations, the transport sector is continuing to expand dramatically.

E-commerce has made it possible for increasing numbers of products to be delivered directly to the consumer’s home at ever decreasing delivery times. International trade between countries is booming and the global flow of goods has reached levels we would have believed inconceivable just a few years ago.

Last year more goods were transported than ever before, and around 70% of these were transported on the road. Just for fun, I decided to perform a few calculations: If all of the heavy trucks sold worldwide in the last year were parked in a line: This line of new vehicles would easily cover the globe’s circumference.