Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany's car industry should do everything in its power to repair its damaged reputation, pointing to the combustion engine's uncertain future as she opens the Frankfurt motor show.
The auto sector - Germany's biggest exporters and employers of more than 800,000 people - was plunged into crisis two years ago when Volkswagen admitted to cheating US diesel emissions tests.
"A lot of trust has been destroyed. That is why the industry must do everything to win back confidence, in its own interest and that of employees and German industry," Merkel told the meeting of top car executives on Thursday.
Merkel noted that the emissions scandal broke just after she opened the same show two years ago. The industry now faces many more challenges, including suggestions that China might eventually ban combustion engines, she said.
Ahead of a national election on September 24, Merkel has come under fire for her close ties to automakers and for failing to crack down on vehicle pollution following VW's admissions and push the industry to move into electric vehicles.
VW, BMW, Daimler, Audi and Porsche have since come under investigation by European regulators for alleged anti-competitive collusion.
On Thursday, she urged foreign carmakers to join a deal with German manufacturers to overhaul engine software on diesel cars to cut pollution. She also reiterated her opposition to bans on diesel cars under consideration by courts in some German cities.
Britain and France have recently announced plans to eventually ban all diesel and petrol vehicles, while Tesla has launched its first mass-market electric car.
Merkel predicted that the combustion engine will survive as demand was booming in many parts of the world, while she said German automakers were still innovation leaders, accounting for a third of patents for electric and hybrid cars.
