Angela Merkel learned early in her political career that taking on the German car industry carries risks.
It was the spring of 1995 and the newly appointed environment minister was trying to convince her Cabinet colleagues to back a bold new set of anti-smog rules that included tougher speed limits and summer driving bans.
But Matthias Wissmann, the transport minister with close ties to industry, was having none of it. He questioned whether Merkel's measures would cut pollution levels at all and vowed to fight any attempt to impose speed limits on the Autobahn.