Overview
- Ola Källenius told Der Spiegel that Germany has been moving in the wrong economic direction for 10 to 15 years and cautioned that failure to change could bolster right-wing populists.
- He cited some of the world’s highest labor costs and fading productivity gains, arguing policy must make entrepreneurship and investment worthwhile or capital will flow elsewhere.
- Källenius said Germans need to increase overall working hours, while defending part-time work for specific reasons such as childcare or caregiving.
- He called for European industrial policy to move away from obligations and penalties toward market-based incentives and large-scale infrastructure investment.
- On the EU’s planned 2035 combustion-engine phaseout, he welcomed limited technology openness but warned that excessive mandates risk shrinking the market and stifling growth.