The election of of AfD politician Tobias Rauch as President of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt has caused a stir. For the first time, the 35-year-old is a politician from the party classified by some as right-wing extremist in the federal state heads a parliament.
According to a media report, BMW no longer intends to provide the state parliament in Magdeburg with a vehicle for the president of the state parliament. The headquarters of the Munich-based car group returned a lease offer they had previously submitted to the state parliament. This is reported by Die Zeit citing the state parliament administration.
Equipping parliaments and government agencies with company cars is considered a matter of prestige by corporations. Therefore, the vehicle fleets mostly contain vehicles from German manufacturers. According to the report, BMW currently provides a large part of the vehicle fleet of the state parliament and state government.
AfD asks Musk about a Tesla
AfD deputy parliamentary group leader Beatrix von Storch responded on X Thursday evening, addressing Tesla CEO Elon Musk in English and asking if his company was prepared to provide Rausch with a company car.
Musk had repeatedly campaigned for the AfD in the past. On his own platform, he previously interviewed AfD leader Alice Weidel and he congratulated the party on its election victory in Saxony-Anhalt. He did not initially reply to the message on X.
Bavarian-based BMW declined to comment on the cancellation of the contract offer. "The BMW Group generally does not comment on customer relations", the weekly newspaper quotes a group spokesperson as saying.
I see this period as a challenge to the cohesion of our society and to our understanding of democracy..
- Milan Nedeljković, BMW CEO
Just a few weeks ago, before Rausch's election, BMW CEO Milan Nedeljković had said in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, with regard to the AfD, that right-wing populism and nationalism "are poison for a cosmopolitan economic location that lives off world trade".
Nedeljković, now 57 years old, who came to Germany as a migrant from the former Yugoslavia as a young boy, went on to say: "I am worried about the election results, regardless of my birthplace. I see this period as a challenge to the cohesion of our society and to our understanding of democracy Those who demand isolation and isolationism are not acting in the interest of Germany as a business location".
The President of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt is entitled to a company car and driver. According to Die Zeit, Rausch is taking over a BMW 7 Series from his Christian Democratic predecessor. The vehicle was in use for about three-quarters of a year and traveled slightly over 50,000 kilometers during this time – mileage is usually limited in leasing contracts in order to be able to market the vehicles as used cars after the contract expires.
AfD and contracts
The AfD frequently has its business relationships terminated, including a donation account, accounts of party branches, meeting rooms, and hotel rooms. One of the most well-known court cases was the termination of the lease agreement for Grugahalle in Essen in 2024 for the AfD federal party conference. The background was that the party refused to issue a subsequently requested declaration against 'criminal Nazi slogans'amid a possible contractual penalty of 500,000 euros. The AfD ultimately won in an expedited procedure.
The AfD member could be without a company car in November
The lease agreement for the vehicle of the President of the State Parliament will therefore expire in November. If the state parliament administration fails to obtain a replacement vehicle by then, Rausch would be left without an official car. BMW has so far provided a large part of the vehicle fleet of the state parliament and state government.
According to the newspaper, the administration further stated BMW's leasing offer was the only one available to the state parliament for the vehicle of the parliamentary president from one of the well-known German manufacturers. According to reports, there have been no offers so far from other major brands such as Mercedes or Audi. The BMW Group stated upon request that it generally does not comment on individual customer relationships.
The election of the the AfD had also triggered a dispute in federal politics. In Tuesday's vote, Rausch received four more votes than the AfD and BSW combined – the BSW had previously declared its support for the AfD candidate. The SPD, Greens and Left Party had announced they would vote no.
