Remus-Chef Stephan Zöchling: "E-Mobilität war ein großer politischer Schmäh" | CEO

March 22, 2026·1 hr 14 min·6 clips

Remus CEO Stefan Zöchling calls e-mobility 'a big political scam' because turning off cheap energy sources made charging more expensive than petrol.

1. Der Standard's CEO podcast presents an extended interview with Stephan Zöchling, CEO and co-owner of Austrian automotive parts company Remus, known for sports exhaust systems. 2. Host Petra Stulber, Der Standard's editor-in-chief, opens with a 12-question word-rap revealing Zöchling as a self-described seven-day-week worker who values stubbornness and considers passion a substitute for work-life balance. 3. The episode's core question is how a career spanning congress management, London investment banking, seven years in Russia, and co-ownership of Remus and the Erne group shapes Zöchling's views on European politics and business. 4. Zöchling describes his investment banking years in London in the 1990s as genuine '24-7, sleeping at the desk' working conditions that no longer apply today. 5. He explains the KTM loan: in December, during an emergency on the 19th and 20th, he lent money to prevent KTM's bankruptcy, with a written agreement signed by Stefan Pierer to convert the debt to equity. 6. Three months later, Pierer acted as if the agreement no longer applied; Zöchling declared the loan due and demanded repayment with compound interest, which Pierer could not provide, opening the door for Bacac's takeover. 7. On KTM's failure more broadly, Zöchling praises Pierer's entrepreneurial achievement in building KTM and the Pankel brand while arguing that a management culture of 25 years of uninterrupted success left them unprepared to navigate a downturn. 8. Zöchling bought the residual assets of Sberbank Europe, a 240 million euro acquisition of 350 million euros in cash assets, approved by the Interior Ministry and the ECB, and says the process was transparent despite criticism from a competing bidder called Supernova. 9. On energy, Zöchling argues Europe made three simultaneous errors: ending nuclear power, closing coal plants, and cutting Russian gas imports, citing Economics 101 — reducing supply while increasing demand for EV charging drove electricity prices up until EVs were more expensive per 100km than petrol. 10. He calls EV mandates 'a big political fraud,' arguing you cannot command a population's mobility choices the way left and green politicians attempted, using a medical analogy: no one replaces all chemotherapy with only immunotherapy. 11. He says he believes in hydrogen, e-fuels, and multiple future drivetrain technologies, and that modern catalytic converters can approach near-zero emissions without full electrification. 12. On Russia, Zöchling says Europe was wrong to cut Russian gas simultaneously with nuclear and coal, argues Wandel durch Handel (change through trade) was naive but not a deliberate deception, and suggests post-war normalization with Russia will be geopolitically necessary. 13. He questions the mainstream attribution of the Nord Stream pipeline destruction, arguing Russia had no incentive to destroy its own supply lines and suggesting the US or Ukraine as more plausible actors. 14. Zöchling defends the democratic legitimacy of the FPÖ and AfD, arguing that banning legally elected parties is itself an antidemocratic signal, even while acknowledging verified Russian election interference and AfD-Russia connections. 15. He reveals he personally ran a campaign called 'Zusammenstärker' opposing FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl at the last national election, distinguishing political opposition from calls for party bans. 16. On European innovation, Zöchling rejects the claim that Europe is insufficiently innovative, arguing the real problem is that EU bureaucracy — new regulations on AI training documentation, compliance rules, supply chain laws — prevents innovations from reaching the market at competitive speed. 17. On his management style, Zöchling describes himself as impatient ('ein Heferl') who explodes only when he has warned a team repeatedly and they ignore his guidance; he has long-term employees who accept this pattern. 18. The interview is fast-paced and combative at points, with Stulber pressing Zöchling directly on contradictions between his stated centrism and his political statements. 19. Listeners who follow Austrian business and politics, European energy policy debates, or CEO interview formats with genuine pushback will find substantial content. 20. Those uncomfortable with politically opinionated business interviews or who seek consensus views on Russia and European energy will find Zöchling's positions challenging.

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