Car manufacturers and their suppliers currently fight various battles. The transition from combustion engine to electric power systems will become expensive. At the same time, the companies need to heavily invest in research and development of autonomous driving. The “Grünecker-Patentindex” realizes: As regards alternative power units, the German industry is far behind in a worldwide comparison of published patent applications. In the area of autonomous driving, German industry is still ahead. Jens Koch, author of the “Patentindex” and patent attorney with Grünecker, in a third-party article for the Handelsblatt pleads that the German industry strengthens its position in the area of autonomous driving - even though it needs to catch up in the area of alternative power units.