Der Automobilsektor ist derzeit einer der wichtigsten Industriezweige in Europa. Ca. 2,2 Millionen Mitarbeiter sind direkt, weitere 9,8 Millionen indirekt darin beschäftigt (sechs Prozent aller Beschäftigten in Europa) und erwirtschaften mit einem Umsatz von ca. € 780 Milliarden im Jahr einen bedeutenden Teil des europäischen Bruttoinlandprodukts (BIP). Auch aus Sicht der Konsumenten ist das Auto für 80 % der Europäischen Haushalte, die ein Auto besitzen, aus dem täglichen Leben nicht mehr weg zu denken. Die europäischen Staaten beziehen ca. € 380 Milliarden ihrer Steuereinnahmen aus der Automobilindustrie. Damit haben sowohl Staaten, Konsumenten als auch die Automobilindustrie ein gewichtiges Interesse am Florieren der Branche. Die Schattenseite der Automobilindustrie sind die CO2-Emissionen, die mit 20 % (der Anteil lag 1970 bei 12 %) aller CO2-Emissionen in Europa einen wesentlichen Teil zum Klimawandel beitragen, Tendenz steigend. So haben im Lauf der vergangenen Jahre mehr und mehr Staaten ihre Besteuerung der Pkw explizit oder implizit nach Umweltstandards ausgerichtet. Damit soll das Autofahren verteuert oder eingeschränkt und / oder die Nutzung von schadstoffarmen Pkw gefördert werden. Neben den Klimaschutz verfolgt die Europäische Union (EU) das Ziel, einen einheitlichen europäischen Binnenmarkt zu schaffen. Durch den Mangel an verbindlichen EU-Richtlinien im Bezug auf Abgaben, haben die Gesetze, Steuern und Abgaben auf einzelstaatlicher und regionaler Ebene ein kaum mehr zu überschauendes Maß angenommen, da Im Rahmen des Subsidiaritätsprinzips die Mitgliedsländer weiterhin ihr Steuersystem überwiegend autonom gestalten, sofern dies im Einklang mit bestimmten europaweiten Vorgaben steht. Dies führt zu einem sehr heterogenen Steuersystem, das gerade im Bereich des Verkehrs bedeutende Markteffekte (z. B. höhere Zulassungszahlen für Diesel betriebene Pkw oder kürzere Haltedauern) nach sich zieht. Europaweit einheitlich sind lediglich Regelungen zu Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen. Es lassen sich nach wie vor viele Beispiele für Marktverzerrungen und die Heterogenität der Steuersysteme in Europa finden: Marktverzerrungen und Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen zeigen sich bei Fahrzeugpreisen, die in Europa stark variieren. Beispielsweise kosten in Dänemark Pkw bis zu 37 % weniger als in Deutschland. Diese Arbeit untersucht und vergleicht die Abgaben auf den Erwerb, den Besitz und die Nutzung von Pkw in den EU-Ländern sowie Norwegen und der Schweiz sowohl systematisch als auch quantitativ. Zur quantitativen Analyse wurde eine Datenbank mit den zur Steuerberechnung notwendigen Informationen erstellt. Darunter sind beispielswiese: Steuersätze und –tarife, Fahrzeugdaten, Kraftstoffpreise, Instandhaltungskosten, Versicherungsbeitrage, Wechselkurse und der durchschnittliche Wertverlust der Fahrzeuge. Darauf und auf bestimmten Annahmen basierend wurden die absoluten Abgaben für repräsentative Fahrzeuge in den verschiedenen Ländern berechnet. Besonderes Augenmerk gilt der CO2-orientierten Besteuerung, die in 17 Ländern (zumindest teilweise) eingeführt wurde. Diese Arbeit betrachtet auch andere, d. h. nicht fiskalische Maßnahmen der Europäischen Union zur CO2-Reduzierung, vergleicht diese mit alternativen Instrumenten, und analysiert die Wirkung unterschiedlicher Besteuerung auf den Pkw-Binnenmarkt, z. B. den Einfluss von Abgaben auf die europäischen Automobilpreise und damit auf Arbitrageeffekte. Es zeigt sich, dass die Besteuerung in Europa sowohl in der Abgabenhöhe als auch konzeptionell in der Vielzahl der Bemessungsgrundlagen und Steuertarife sehr heterogen ist und maßgeblich zu den sehr unterschiedlichen Gesamtkosten der Pkw-Nutzung beiträgt. Die relative Abgabenlast ist in einkommensstarken Ländern Westeuropas nicht hoch genug, um den Kraftstoffverbrauch spürbar zu reduzieren. Aus dem gleichen Grund ist von der CO2-orientierten Novellierung der deutschen Kfz-Steuer kein ausreichender Kaufanreiz zugunsten effizienterer Fahrzeuge zu erwarten. Die in der Vergangenheit von der Europäischen Union eingeführten Instrumente zur Reduzierung von CO2-Emissionen aus dem Straßenverkehr führten nicht zu den erwünschten Emissionsverringerungen. Die jüngste Maßnahme der Europäischen Union, den Automobilherstellern Emissionsgrenzen vorzuschreiben, ist weder effektiv noch effizient. Im letzten Jahrzehnt haben sich die Automobilpreise in Europa zwar etwas angeglichen. Dies liegt weniger an einer Angleichung in der Besteuerung als an der schrittweisen Liberalisierung des europäischen Automobilmarktes und den Novellierungen der Gruppenfreistellungsverordnung. / The automotive industry is currently one of the most important industries in Europe. Approximately 2.2 million people are directly employed in this industry, and an additional 9.8 million jobs indirectly depend on it. This represents 6 percent of all jobs in Europe. A significant amount of Europe’s gross domestic product is generated in this sector which produces a turnover of approximately € 780 billion per year. Governments, consumers and car manufacturers have a significant interest in a flourish automotive industry: 80 % of all European households own a car and rely on it in their day to day life and the European member states are collecting approximately € 380 billion in tax revenue from the automotive industry. One of the problems caused by the automotive sector are the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their impact on the environment. 20 % of all CO2 emissions in Europe are currently caused by cars, being a major contributor to climate change. The contribution has increased from 12% in 1970 and is expected to grow even further in the future. Consequently, several countries recently introduced taxes that consider carbon emissions with the aim to reduce the use of cars, or to incentivise the use of more fuel efficient vehicles. The automotive sector is not only relevant for the European Union’s (EU) climate policy, but for its broader goal to ensure a functioning internal market with free movement of people, goods, services, and capital. However, the degree to which a free internal market can be achieved also depends on the homogeneity of the tax system throughout the EU. To date, taxes and other duties are still very heterogeneous across the EU, due to the lack of binding regulations and directives with respect to taxes – in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity embedded in the Maastricht treaty. These differences affect the automotive sector, for example in terms of demand for diesel cars, or the average number of years that a car is used. More importantly, market distortions can still be observed in the automotive sector: Heterogeneous tax systems lead to vastly different car prices within the EU, e.g. cars are up to 37% cheaper in Denmark than in Germany. This study compares and analyses - both quantitatively and qualitatively - taxes and duties on cars in connection with their purchase and registration, ownership and tenure as well as use. The analysis covers all 27 EU member countries, Switzerland and Norway. For the quantitative analysis, a software based database and simulation tool was developed. This tool contains all relevant data, such as tax rates, tax scales, car characteristics, fuel prices, car maintenance costs or depreciation rates. The simulation tool uses the data to calculate taxes and duties for a number of specific cars models (selected representatively covering all segments) for each of the 29 countries, relying on certain assumptions where necessary. The analysis focuses particularly on taxes introduced to reduce the CO2 emission of cars in the EU, namely CO2 based taxes of motor vehicles, which have been introduced in 17 of the 29 countries. This thesis also considers other, non fiscal measures of the EU that are designed to reduce CO2 emis¬sions of cars. These measures are subsequently analysed and compared to other instruments in order to understand the impact of different taxation models on the European internal car market, for example, with respect to car prices in the EU and hence potential for arbitrage. The thesis demonstrates that material differences in taxation of cars exist, both regarding the total amount of taxes levied in similar circumstances, but also regarding the underlying concepts and bases for assessment. This heterogeneity results in vastly different costs of purchasing, owning and driving a car. In the relatively wealthy countries in Western Europe, costs are not sufficiently high to have a notable impact on the consumption of fuel. This is also why the new German tax on car ownership, although based on the average fuel consumption, is not expected to create a significant incentive for consumers to buy more fuel efficient cars. Similarly, the EU measures to reduce CO2 emissions of car usage failed to deliver the desired outcomes. The most recent instrument of the EU, prescribing emission thresholds for car manufacturers, is neither effective nor efficient. The thesis also shows that during the last ten years car prices in the countries of Europe have converged. However, this is less due to the increasing similarities in taxation, but instead due to the gradual liberalisation of the European car market and the renewal of the block exemption for the motor vehicle sector.

Zugl.: Zürich, Univ., veränd. Lizentiatsarbeit

This diploma thesis analyses the degree of nominal convergence in the market for new passenger cars in selected classes. The selected classes are a class of small, medium and large cars. Analysed areas are the European Union, the euro area and the 15 traditional members of EU. The evaluation period of convergence is 2007-2011. There are identified countries with the lowest and highest price levels. Part of the work is devoted to recommendations for the final consumer when buying a new car in another EU country.

This doctoral thesis seeks to evaluate the accessibility of the centre of the capital city Prague by people commuting from the suburbs on a daily basis using different types of transport and the related energy performance of these differing types of vehicle. The goal of this academic work is to propose a methodology for measuring transport accessibility by utilising energy efficiency as benchmark. On the basis of energy requirements, obtained by measurements taken during journeys both by car and bus, a method of calculating the energy demands of the two modes of transport was derived. This proposed method of measurement was then applied to journeys from selected suburbs and the results were compared. A part of this work was to propose an "energy information label" whose goal is to inform residents about the energy requirements of the various types of transport when used for their daily commute from the suburbs to the city core. It was verified that the performance of the measured units of energy required are significantly affected by another factor. The main benefit of this work is the proposal of a methodology for the acquisition and measurement of the energy performance during the populations daily commute. Another benefit is the proposal to implement an "energy information label" which serves to inform the population about the energy performance when commuting to their place of work in the city core.

Thesis title: Artificial intelligence and liability for its actions The artificial intelligence has recently become a ubiquitous phenomenon with a potential to change the world as we know it. Therefore, this thesis is concerned with the topic of artificial intelligence, specifically with a connection to a civil-law liability for its actions. It is absolutely clear that there will be more and more events in the future where damage will occur due to actions of artificial intelligence. Thus, the primary goal of this thesis is the determination of the person liable for damage caused in such cases under Czech law. Further goals of this thesis are an analysis of the question how is the dawn of autonomous cars influencing the legal instrument of liability for the damage caused by the operation of a means of transport as well as an introduction and examination of a recent resolution of the European Parliament which is supposed to serve as a basis for a future legal framework addressing the artificial intelligence in the area of the European Union. First, the paper focuses on the definition of the term artificial intelligence from a technical and legal viewpoint. This analysis shows that the definition of this term is not a straightforward one from neither of these viewpoints which can have serious...

This thesis focuses on maintenance and car diagnostics in the field of car mechanic and autotronic. I focused on the history of these branches and on the history of car maintenance. I further focused on the technological procedures in car maintenance and on the modern educational means. My aim was to introduce the possibilities of modern diagnostic technology and individual diagnostic machines at work. In the practical part I focused on specific car defects, their diagnostics and subsequent removal.

The aim of my thesis is to describe the automotive industries of the most significant countries in the Asian region. The whole thesis is focused on passenger cars. The thesis is focused on the following countries: Japan, South Korea, China and India. Another aim is to analyze the impact of selected auto makers from these countries to the European market. One of the aims is also introduction of the future trends in the Asian automotive industry, related to Europe. The last aim is to determinate when the Chinese automaker will belong to the world's car manufacturers.

This Master's thesis analyses the taxation of motor vehicle in the European Union. The main goal of the thesis is to describe individual taxes imposed on cars, compare the amount of taxation within the European Union. The system of taxation of motor vehicles is illustrated in several member states of the European Union. In conclusion is evaluated the impact of harmonization on taxation of cars.

This diploma thesis is concerned with design of amphibious rescue vehicle. The aim of this work is to design external shape of the vehicle and to create a modul container which fullfills technical, contructional, ergonomic and aestethic features of the vehicle. The work is meant to show variety of new shapes of amphibious vehicles and the advancement from former shapes towards newer and more suitable ones.

The aim of this master´s thesis is design of hydralic power shift for transmission Tatra 14TS210L. The master´s thesis contains a description of the individual power shifts used by Tater as well as other truck manufacturers. This is followed by a design concept of the power shift, including FEM calculations of the shift inches and piston rods. Part of the work is also production drawings of the body of the power shift and piston rod.