BMW withdraws leasing offer for car of AfD Landtag president Tobias Rausch
BMW withdrew its leasing offer for the Landtag president's car in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 October, the day AfD politician Tobias Rausch was elected. The lease on his predecessor's BMW 7 Series runs out in November.
The vote in Magdeburg
On 6 October the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt elected Tobias Rausch, a 35-year-old member of the AfD, as its president. He received 48 votes in the secret ballot, while 29 members voted against him and 5 abstained, according to N-tv. Berliner Zeitung counted nine votes that came from outside the AfD and BSW groups, and N-tv reports that the two groups together hold 44 seats. Rausch is the first AfD politician to lead a German parliament, according to Berliner Zeitung and Zeit.
- Yes
- 48 votes
- No
- 29 votes
- Abstentions
- 5 votes
BMW withdraws its offer
Hours after the vote, BMW withdrew a leasing offer for the car of the Landtag president. The Landtag administration confirmed the withdrawal to Zeit, which reported that the company acted on 6 October. BMW gave no reason. A company spokesperson said:
The BMW Group does not generally comment on customer relationships.
According to the administration, BMW's offer was the only one from a large German carmaker. Berliner Zeitung notes that BMW has supplied a large part of the fleet for the Landtag and the state government, and that carmakers see equipping parliaments as a question of prestige.
The car and the lease
Rausch will initially drive the BMW 7 Series of his predecessor, Gunnar Schellenberger of the CDU, who held the office from 2021 to 2026. Zeit reports that the car covered more than 50,000 kilometres. Leases often cap mileage so that cars can be resold as used vehicles, and the presidency normally comes with a car and a driver. Earlier presidents in Saxony-Anhalt drove Audi vehicles, and an electric car was once in use, Berliner Zeitung reports. The lease runs until November, and the state administration still has to find a replacement, with neither Audi nor Mercedes having made an offer so far.
- Landtag elects Tobias Rausch president; BMW withdraws its leasing offer the same day
- Beatrix von Storch asks Elon Musk on X whether Tesla would provide Rausch with a car
- Lease on predecessor's BMW 7 Series expires
Reactions
Milan Nedeljković, BMW's chief executive, criticised the AfD in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung a few days before the withdrawal. He said:
Right-wing populism and nationalism are poison for an open-minded business location that lives off world trade.
According to Berliner Zeitung, Nedeljković added that anyone who demands seclusion and isolationism does not act in the interest of Germany as a business location. Beatrix von Storch, deputy leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, responded on X on Thursday evening, writing to Tesla chief Elon Musk in English: 'would @Tesla be willing to provide him with an official car?' The domestic intelligence service classifies the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt state association as 'confirmed right-wing extremist', N-tv reports. Berliner Zeitung also recalls that in 2005 Lothar Bisky failed four times in a vote for Bundestag vice president, while Petra Pau of the same group was elected on the first ballot on 7 April 2006.
What comes next
The lease on the predecessor's car expires in November. If the Landtag administration finds no replacement by then, Rausch would have no company car of his own. As of the reporting, BMW had not explained its decision, and the Landtag had received no replacement offer from another large German manufacturer.
