Wait, with the strong Deutsche Mark West Germany had trade surpluses all the time.
German's core competitiveness is not based on price. Price has an influence, but countries buying a German (Siemens) gas turbine for a power station don't do it because it is especially price competitive. They do it because of its technical qualities mostly. Same for the High Voltage DC lines that Siemens sells to China. Same for the high-speed trains that Siemens sells to China, Russia, Spain, ...
That is indeed a valid counter-argument. I guess you'd have to quantify the proportion of its exports that are price-insensitive to be sure. I'd be interested to know if anyone has a rough idea?
German's core competitiveness is not based on price. Price has an influence, but countries buying a German (Siemens) gas turbine for a power station don't do it because it is especially price competitive. They do it because of its technical qualities mostly. Same for the High Voltage DC lines that Siemens sells to China. Same for the high-speed trains that Siemens sells to China, Russia, Spain, ...
Siemens HVDC systems in China: http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/energie_elekt...