A planned purchase of Chinese electric buses by Deutsche Bahn has met with harsh criticism from the German Railway and Transport Union (EVG).
"We will make this an issue in the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn," EVG boss and supervisory board vice-chairman Martin Burkert told SPIEGEL.
Just a few weeks ago, the federal government demanded more patriotism from the economy.
"But the fact that the state-owned company Deutsche Bahn now wants to buy electric buses cheaply in China sounds like a bad joke."
At the beginning of April, Deutsche Bahn invited tenders for a comprehensive contract for the supply of buses, including suppliers of electric buses.
According to information from SPIEGEL, the Chinese car manufacturer BYD was selected as the main supplier for part of the contract, which is divided into lots as is usual for Deutsche Bahn.
Other contracts went to the Chinese manufacturer Zhongtong Bus and MAN. The partial order for BYD is for around 700 buses, a total of several thousand vehicles.
Deutsche Bahn denied the figures, but did not give any other details. The company also declined to comment on other details.
Deutsche Bahn is currently "carrying out a Europe-wide tender for the supply of buses", a spokesperson said in response to an inquiry.
This involves multi-year framework agreements. No further information on the procedure could be provided before the official end of the tender. The orders for BYD and Zhongtong Bus will go to European subsidiaries of the Chinese companies.
The SPD, which is closely linked to the EVG, recently demanded that German industry should secure domestic jobs in return for state support.
"I would like to see a little more patriotism from one or the other in the company management," said Co-Party Leader and Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil at a congress of the IG BCE trade union.
A resolution by the SPD executive board also states: "We demand location patriotism from our economy."
CONCLUSION: After the Dutch, Germany will also buy from $1211 (-1,03 %) and further underline their future growth 😉
