One year after the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler is divesting its Russian business. "We have divested our Russian activities, but have not yet been able to finalize it. You need certain permits that we have not yet received," said CEO Klaus Rosenfeld in an interview with "Welt am Sonntag". The production facility in Ulyanovsk was the company's smallest plant in the world. "We have found an acceptable solution for ourselves and the 150 employees," Rosenfeld said, without giving further details.

Referring to a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan, which would be followed by sanctions, the manager said that recent years have shown that large global companies need to deal much more with risk management – even with events that are not expected. "We don't have a finished plan in our pocket yet. But we have started to deal intensively with this risk. Anything else would be irresponsible."

Increased investment in the US

Rosenfeld also said that he had spent a week in the United States with Schaeffler's main shareholder Georg Schaeffler. One reason for this is the billion-dollar subsidy package Inflation Reduction Act: "We will definitely use it to invest more in the US," said Rosenfeld. The IRA will give more impetus to the issue of sustainability in America. "This applies not only to cars, but also to the industrial sectors in which we operate."

However, this is not about relocating existing production to the USA. "But we're more likely to build the next plants in America. There is a danger that Europe will be the loser of this redistribution," he said. In Europe, there are also own programs. "The question is what works best," Rosenfeld said.

Audi CEO Markus Duesmann had also spoken in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" that the construction of a US plant for electric cars had become highly attractive with the IRA. The IRA program has a total volume of 430 billion dollars and includes subsidies and tax rebates for electric cars produced in the USA. In addition, there are restrictions on the use of battery materials, which are aimed at greater independence from Chinese imports.