Globalization 2.0 Requires New Development and Purchasing Strategies

The automotive industry, and especially automotive electronics, is characterized by globalization. Over the last 40 years, production of semiconductors and electronic components was moved to Asia, battery cells and the corresponding materials, including mining and extraction of raw materials, have been dominated by Chinese manufacturers already from the beginning. Location and sourcing decisions were made according to primarily economic considerations, and geopolitical aspects were largely ignored. And geopolitical risks were almost never a decision criterion between technical concepts. But globalization is the result of geopolitics and geopolitical change. With the opening of China, the fall of the Soviet Union, the financial crisis, subsequent democratization in South America, and the rise of India, the BRIC countries promised new growth opportunities and massive cost savings. For some years now, we have once again seen a geopolitical shift - this time with the opposite sign. In China, geostrategic considerations dominate over economic ones; in the U.S., Trump's nationalism has marginalized Republican free trade advocates; China is declared the main enemy across party lines; and Europe is increasingly involved in the trade war. …