“It’s not good enough just to have leather seats that German CEOs like to have anymore.
“It’s a new generation of people who care about different things. It’s a bit like when Germany started making cars in the US and didn’t understand that drivers needed cup holders for large cups.”
“Unless they get their act together, there won’t be any more well-paid jobs because they will be overrun by other competitors”.
More broadly, she argued that Germany’s economy must fundamentally reorganise to reflect the political tensions between the East and West, and the fact that the era of cheap energy appears to be over.
Ms Schnitzer said: “We need to get our act together and restructure the economy. That is the big discussion we’re having right now.
“Should we do everything in our power to keep the old structures [by subsidising] energy prices for the energy intensive industry to keep them in the country? Or should we let them go? If you ask my personal opinion, I would say we should let them go.”
The country barely dragged itself out of recession in the last quarter with zero growth, while the International Monetary Fund believes Germany will be the only major country to shrink this year.
Even Russia is expected to eke out more growth.
Ms Schnitzer said the threat of a prolonged German recession is the “number one question” the council is being asked by politicians in the Bundestag.
However, she rejected the idea that Germany is again the sick man of Europe.
“The only thing I fear is resistance to change. We need to embrace change. How we get out of this crisis depends a lot on what will be done now.
“What will not help is us saying we want to keep everything as it is. Because things have changed. Energy prices have changed. We need to adjust.”
