In the affair of the RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, who has since left, the company car of the station manager caused a stir: an Audi A8, equipped with massage seats, among other things.
It was noticeable that Audi made the car available to her at a so-called “government price” with a 70 percent discount, according to research by “Business Insider”. According to the research, the RBB signed the following clause: “The tenant undertakes to maintain confidentiality towards third parties with regard to the prices/delivery conditions granted to him. If this clause is disregarded, the lessor reserves the right to no longer supply the lessee at the preferential conditions granted or to terminate the contract.
The RBB then announced that the enormous discount was not “preferential treatment”, but a “company discount customary in the industry”.
That is why WELT also asked the other ARD broadcasters, ZDF and Deutschlandradio whether company cars were also in use there at “government prices” or at other very high discounts. Most institutions do not deny this and refer to the confidentiality obligation towards the car companies.
An MDR spokesman says: “The directors and directors of the MDR drive Audi and BMW company cars. We ask for your understanding that we are not allowed to comment on the conditions for contractual reasons.”
The Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) is also silent: According to the service contract, the director and the directors have company cars at their disposal, the broadcaster reports. “A total of nine leased vehicles from different brands are in use. Please understand that we do not comment on contract details for reasons of confidentiality.”
Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) answered only a little more willingly to provide information. A spokesman said: “Only the director drives a personal company car (BMW 330e Touring). The vehicle was leased in July 2021 after Martin Grasmück took office. The conditions were negotiated between the supplier and the responsible purchasing department of SR according to the principle of economic efficiency. The exact conditions may not be published due to a corresponding clause in the contract.” Until June 2021, a BMWx730xDrive was used as the predecessor of the current 3 Series.
Even the largest broadcaster of the ARD, the WDR, does not comment on the details of the car purchases for its management level. He points out that one is “contractually obliged not to pass contract details on to third parties”.
The four cars used by the artistic director and director are leased vehicles. “As lessees, we are not aware of the exact calculation basis of the lessor and what conditions he grants to other corporate customers/companies,” reports WDR.
Similarly, the Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR): He answers the questions that he “due to contractual confidentiality clauses cannot make any statements about the individual contract conditions” – the vehicles used by different manufacturers are, however, “either leased or bought at favorable and therefore economical conditions for the BR “. Management currently has six models from the manufacturers Audi (2), BMW (3) and Ford (1) at its disposal.
The Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) does not provide any specific information on the procurement details of company cars at management level. According to the answers, only director Florian Hager and program director and deputy director Gabriele Holzner have a company car.
Hager, who has only been in office since March 2022, is currently still driving the leased company car of his predecessor Manfred Krupp, a BMW 745e. “When he took office, a smaller car was ordered at his request, a fully electric BMW iX xDrive40, which is to be delivered in the near future,” writes the HR.
Like previous company cars in HR, the car is leased on “fixed terms”. Deputy Holzner drives a small electric Renault model ZOE car from the hr fleet, which was acquired in 2020 together with other cars for the hr pool.
Of the ARD stations, only SWR and Radio Bremen are more transparent about the purchase conditions for company cars at management level.
In response to the question “Are official cars used in your establishment for which the “government award” has been granted? How many and which models are there?” SWR reports: “No. Neither in the past nor at present has the SWR been granted “government prices” for company cars.” To the question: “Are company cars used in your company for which other substantial discounts of over 40 percent of the regular price were granted?” the company replies clearly with: “No.”
Radio Bremen reports: “No employee of Radio Bremen has their own company car. Employees who are away on business have the option of borrowing a vehicle for the respective shoot or the respective appointment via the disposition. No “government prices” and significant discounts of over 40 percent have been claimed on the vehicles in our fleet.”
ZDF answers a little more concretely – at least at first glance. Company cars are currently available to the director and the directors and their deputies, the legal advisor and his deputies, the program director of Phoenix and the heads of the domestic and foreign studios.
The leasing rates are “the usual conditions in the so-called authority leasing in the range between 360 and 670 euros per month”. ZDF does not say which cars the executives drive at these rates. Merely that the categories are middle class to upper middle class. Only the director drives a luxury vehicle: According to a query by “Spiegel”, it is a BMW 740 Ld x Drive.
Deutschlandradio is also semi-specific in its answer. There it is said that management and executives have five company cars – four BMWs, a Toyota Prius Hybrid – available, which were each purchased “at so-called official leasing conditions”. The institution does not write exactly how these conditions turn out.
The RBB itself, where the company car affair began, answers questions from WELT as to whether cars with a “government discount” were also purchased for other leading employees of the broadcaster, with a clear “no”.
