Official car cancelled: AfD state parliament president Rausch writes open letter to BMW

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You may have seen the headline: BMW has withdrawn the leasing offer for an official car intended for the newly elected AfD state parliament president Tobias Rausch in Saxony-Anhalt. Rausch speaks of political exclusion – and has written an open letter to the carmaker.

So you can put the story in context, here's the essential information upfront: The state parliament president of Saxony-Anhalt is entitled to an official car with driver. According to a report by "Zeit," BMW had provided his predecessor from the CDU with a 7-series BMW. According to ZDFheute, Rausch will continue to use this car for the time being – only a new leasing contract has been cancelled.

What's still missing: an official explanation from BMW. In the available media reports, the corporation does not comment. We therefore know the motivations only from Rausch's perspective.

What is known so far about the withdrawal

The trigger for the debate is a report by "Zeit." According to it, BMW has withdrawn the leasing offer for an official car that was to be made available to the state parliament president. MDR dates the incident to the day of Rausch's election as state parliament president. RND says the leasing contract will not be renewed. t-online, BR, ZDFheute, MSN and the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung pick up the report consistently – uniformly with the statement that BMW is no longer making the official car available.

There is no official statement from BMW in the available reports. The fact that the decision became public on the day of the election does not in itself suggest a causal connection – this is the temporal information MDR provides.

What Rausch accuses BMW of

According to his own account, Rausch feels excluded. RND quotes him with the accusation of "political exclusion," while the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung speaks of discrimination "on the basis of his party affiliation." t-online confirms that Rausch has written an open letter to the corporation. What it contains in detail is not reliably documented beyond the available sources.

Who else is speaking up

According to RND, AfD parliamentary group leader Siegmund has joined the debate. Der Tagesspiegel adds that AfD Bundestag member Beatrix von Storch is turning to Elon Musk – the background, according to Der Tagesspiegel, is apparently the US billionaire's role at X. Reactions from the CDU, the state government or the other state parliamentary groups are not documented in the available reports.

What you can take away from the matter

In practical terms: Rausch will continue to drive his predecessor's car for the time being, and parliamentary operations are not disrupted. Politically, however, the story is still a signal – because it is the first time that the AfD has occupied the president post in a German state parliament, and a major automaker is simultaneously stepping back from the previous practice. The only documented interpretation of the motivations currently comes from Rausch himself; whether BMW internally justified the move with the political constellation or whether other reasons played a role remains open.